Where Do We Go From Here?
by GreyAddict4489
Summary: Set after the third season finale...everyone wondering what their supposed to do. bang merder alexava georgeizzie some georgecallie and few other odd pairings...people are hooking up, breaking up, being admitted into the hospital, leaving, and some1 dies
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING AFFILIATED WITH GREY'S ALTHOUGH I DO WISH I OWNED MCDREAMY...THAT WOULD MAKE MY MCLIFE! enjoy R&R

Prologue:

Set after season 3 finale…

Burke left her. _Burke_ left _her_. How did she let that happen? How did she let herself slip away? She let herself go; she dressed up in a dress, she got her hair done, she wore a choker, she let 'mama' take her eyebrows, she agreed to a big wedding, and she agreed to marriage. She's not the marrying type. She said she'd never get married. She's a surgeon. And _he _dumped _her_. How'd she let it happen to her?

"It's all over…" that's what she said. He couldn't get that out of his head. "It's all over." Did she mean them? He didn't want to lose her. He loved her. She kept leaving him. Was this just pay back? Is she doing this just because he hurt her? Does she just want him to feel what it's like? Or is she really not going to stay? He can't do this anymore…he has to let her go. But how?

They're having a baby. What the hell! They're having a baby? She told him she was in love with him. She told him. She poured her heart out to him. And he's going to have a baby with her. How's she supposed to do this? How is she supposed to work with the man she loves and the woman he's married to, knowing full well they're happy together and having a baby? What's she going to do?

He failed. He will no longer be a surgeon. While all of his friends will be residents, he'll be an intern; again. Or else he can stop being a surgeon. How can he do that? He can't just do that…can he? And Izzie admitted she loved him. And now, Callie wants to have a baby. And he said yes. And they tried. Now what's he supposed to do?

He let her go. He loves her. He knows it and so does she. But he let her go. And now she's gone. She's gone back to her husband. What the hell is he going to do now? Addison was great for a one night deal, but Ava was different. He knew he could stay with her. She liked him, even though he's an ass. He knew her before she knew her. How's he supposed to get her back?

"You either need to get a new job, or a new life." The chief had said that to her. To HER. How dare he! She is Addison Montgomery. She is the best OB/GYN in the nation. THE BEST. And he's not going to promote her to Chief-of-Surgery. This is not fair. But he was right. She needs a new job…a new job and a new life. Should she go?

He made them all work. He was the reason they fought so hard. And now, he's not going to be chief. That's all he really wanted. That besides Addison. He wants her. Oh boy does he want her. But she wants Karev. He went almost 60 full days without sex. He was going to go those full 60 days. But then _she_ slept with Karev. He finally knew what it felt like to be rejected. He finally knew. Now what's he going to do?

He named her Chief Resident. She's worked her ass off. She started a free clinic. She kept her interns under control, even when she was out on maternity leave. She took everyone's comments about the Duquet incident. She's been there for her interns. She's been there for the chief. She has done the best she could possibly do, and he still didn't name her Chief Resident. So now what's she supposed to do? Should she just call it quits? Can she do that?


	2. Gun shots ring

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING AFFILIATED WITH GREY'S ANATOMY...this is the disclaimer for the whole story

His trumpet is gone. His cd collection is gone. His grandma's picture is gone. He's not coming back. Cristina woke up, realizing that none of this was the bad dream she was hoping it was. It was reality. Burke was gone and not coming back. How was she supposed to work with him? She helped him hide his tremors, she risked her medical liscense to keep it a secret, she learned all the procedures to help him, she was the best damn thing that every happened to him. And he left her. Sure, Meredith learned to work with Derek after his McWife came back, but deep down she knew she wasn't as strong as Meredith. Meredith could do it, but she won't be able to. Life seems so unfair. She should've just stepped out of the relationship when she wanted to; life would be so much easier then. She looked at the clock. It was 4:58. She had to be there for rounds in about an hour, but she didn't want to go. She didn't wanted to be the freak show. She knew everyone would be talking about her. No longer would she be the best of the best, dating and engaged to one of the people highest on the food chain, no…she'd the be the girl who got left at the alter. He doesn't love her. She's never been hurt by anything really before, but him telling her that he basically didn't love her, well, that hurts. She knew she would have to face the music sometime, so she literally pulled herself out of bed, and gets ready for her new residency.

She arrived at work, seeing everyone's eyes upon her as she entered the building and never went away. Even Izzie was giving her those kinds of looks.

"Stop it! I'm fine okay? Just stop pitying me! I'm fine!" she said.

"You know that everyone who says they're fine, really aren't." Izzie said.

"Oh shut up," Alex said. "Give her a break. She's a hard chick…this won't phase her."

"Yeah, Alex, cause Cristina doesn't love, right? She doesn't have feelings? She's not a machine," Izzie shot back.

"If Cristina wasn't alright, she wouldn't be here today. So just leave her alone," Meredith said, causing everyone to shut up. "Hey, where's George?"

"I don't know," Cristina said. They all looked at izzie.

"Don't look at me. Go ask his wife; the mother of his not yet conceived child."

"Gee, jealous much?" Alex said, causing Izzie to whip around.

"What?!" she said, nervously. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous? Haha."

"He was just kidding Iz, he didn't mean anything by it," Meredith said.

"Okay everyone; here are the lists for your assigned interns. I am still your resident, so if there are any problems, come to me. You are only one step higher than an intern, so don't start letting this newly found, short supply power go to your head. Now Go!" Bailey said, handing the lists to the new residents. "Yang, can I have a word with you?"

"Sure Dr. Bailey, is there something you need me to do?"

"Yes, go home."

"Go home? But why? I'm here, I'm fine, I'm ready to teach."

"You're hiding. You remember what happened when you had your miscarriage? How long did you hold it in before you broke down? The longer you wait, the worse the break down is going to be. Take time off; I've already talked to the chief. He agrees that you need some time off."  
"No I don't, I'm fine. I have to go talk to my interns now," Cristina said walking away.

"You left her Preston," Addison said.

"I don't love her; not the real her. I love the woman I was trying to make her become. I can't do that to anyone," Burke said, looking away.

"Burke, you fell in love with the real her. What? Did you just fall out of love with that Cristina?" Derek said, outraged.

"I began to love the Cristina I was trying to make more than the real one. I couldn't live with that. And the more I think about it, the more I am sure I'm not really in love with her."

"You are unbelievable!" Meredith suddenly shouted. "She gave up her anti-marriage beliefs for you. She wore a dress for you. She was going to have a big wedding _for you_. Your mother took her eyebrows and make her wear an uncomfortable necklace and a dress that was too tight ALL FOR YOU! And you're trying to say you don't love her? Screw you! Screw you screw you screw you. Go to Hell."

"Yeah…I kinda agree with her," Addison said, walking away.

"I never thought I'd here Addison say that about Meredith," Burke said.

"Yeah, well you have to give props where props are due," Derek said..

"What?"

"Mer's right," Derek said, as he heard Cristina yell.  
"Meredith look out!"

Derek and Burke, along with everyone else on the floor heard the gun shot ring, and they took off running down the hall.


	3. The aftermath

"MER!" Cristina screamed, crouching down at her side.

"We trusted you. It was only the hiccups. Who dies of the hiccups?" Thatcher said, pacing back and fourth.

"Thatcher? What's going on here?" the chief asked, unaware of what had happened.

"HE SHOT MEREDITH!" Cristina yelled, crying, desperately trying to apply pressure to the wound in her neck.

"He what?" The chief said, as he looked down, and then started to feel the anger. "Get a gurney, prep an OR, and call the police!"

"No! No no no no!" Thatcher said, pointing the gun at the Chief. "Get her away from Meredith," he said, pointing to Cristina.

"Come on Cristina," Burke said, reaching out to her.

"No! I'm not going to leave her. I let go, she bleeds out. I've almost lost her twice now. I can't lose her too. I lost you, I'm not losing her. She's the only one I have left. So no! I'm not going to leave her. You can shoot me too, but I'm not leaving her!"

"Cristina, you need to listen to him. He's got a gun. He'll shoot you," Burke said.

"What do you care? You don't love me. I doubt if you even like me. Just leave me alone."

"We need to get her away from Meredith, or else she'll get shot," Burke said, turning around. "Derek I need you to help-"

"What were you saying?" Thatcher asked, turning the gun towards Burke.

"Oh nothing, I just thought that Derek ran with me when we heard the gun shot, but he must have run out with everyone else," Burke said in disbelief.

"Derek wouldn't do that," Thatcher said. "He loves her too much. WHERE DID HE GO?!"

"I don't know, Mr. Grey. I honestly don't know," Burke said.

"Thatcher, why don't you just put down the gun and come over here. You just lost your wife. You're hurting. You're in pain. It's understandable that you're irrational. I'm sure they'll go a little easier on you," Weber tried to reason.

"NO! She's going to die. I want her to die! She took my only reason for living away from me. It's her fault!" Thatcher yelled, and hunched over slightly, crying.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Derek ran towards him, tackling him to the ground. The gun flew out from under them, towards Cristina. She picked it up and pointed it towards Thatcher.

"You shot her! You shot her! You lost your wife because you came to the hospital because of the hiccups. You brought her here. Meredith didn't offer to bring her here to help with something as simple as the hiccups. You wanted her help. You asked for her help. She did what she could, but there were complications. It's not her fault that you came here because of the hiccups; it's yours. Get over it! She didn't purposely kill your wife. Your wife was more of a mother than her own mother. She loved your wife. She wouldn't have done anything to purposely hurt her. But you're so wrapped up in what you lost that you don't care about anyone else. GET OVER YOURSELF! She did not set out to hurt you!" Cristina said, crying, shakily still pointing the gun at Thatcher.

Burke reached out and grabbed the gun. "Get a gurney! Get an OR prepped! Get all the new residents together and do NOT let them in the gallery! Let Bailey know, and have her and Callie take over the new interns! NOW!" he yelled.

"Cristina, you need to get up," the Chief said, as he pulled her up and took over trying to stop the bleeding.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Cristina said.

"It's going to be okay. She's going to be okay. She survived hypothermia. She survived almost being blown up. She's got to be okay," Derek said, putting his arm around Cristina, unaware of the tears streaming down his face.

"Chief?" the nurse said, taking Meredith's stats to prep her for emergency surgery.  
"Yes?"

"Hey, where'd Thatcher go?" Cristina asked.

"We can't find a pulse," the nurse said.

"Shit!"


	4. Seeking comfort

"No, she has to have a pulse. She has to!" Cristina screamed, running to Meredith's body.

"Cristina let them work on her!" Burke said, pulling her back.

"Let me go! You're not doing anything, they're not doing anything, I'll do something!"

"Somebody get her in the god damned OR and work on her!" Derek yelled, being the catalyst that got everyone moving. The chief wheeled her into the OR and everyone ran about.

"Let me go!" Cristina said, one more time, flying out of his arms.

"Cristina, you know I only did it for your own good…operating on your friend is never going to have a good end result!" Burke said.

"Just leave me alone; you and all you're 'I only did it for your own good'-ness. You don't care about me. We all know you don't love me. You feel nothing towards me, so just cut the bull shit. Alright? Because no one believes you! You weren't there when I found out I was pregnant because I felt as though I couldn't necessarily trust you. And then, I felt like I could. I felt like you would always love me. I felt like you truly wanted to be with me. I gave up a lot for you. And then what happened? You left me. You told me you didn't love me. And you weren't there when I lost it. You want to know why you weren't aware I broke down? Because you left. You took your cds and trumpet and your grandmother's picture. You weren't there to tell me how to put the pieces back together. So like I said, just leave me alone because you don't give a damn what happens to me!" Cristina yelled, sobbing so hard that she felt like she couldn't breathe.

Derek looked at Cristina and pulled her close to him, trying to help suppress her sobs. "Just leave her alone Dr. Burke. She has a point. You weren't there for her. It's been all about you for so long. Right now, she needs support. She just got left at the altar, and now, her best friend is on an OR table, trying not to die. So just leave," Derek said, starting to cry with Cristina.

"I, I'm, I'm sorry," Burke stuttered, walking away briskly.

"Come on Cristina, we need to take a break," Derek said, pulling them up off of the floor.

"The on-call room," Cristina said. "I don't want anyone to find me. I don't want to be asked a million questions, and I definitely don't want Izzie to find me."

They both shared a little giggle as they walked into the on-call room.

"We've found a heartbeat, but it's shallow," the nurse said to the chief.

"Chief, I got your page, what happened?" Addison asked, walking into the OR.

"Thatcher Grey shot his daughter."

"His daughter, as in Meredith?!"

"Yes, she was hit in the neck. She's lost a lot of blood. We need all the help we can get," the chief said.

"SHE'S FLAT LINING!"

"I hate not knowing what's going on," Cristina said.

"I know," Derek said.

"It should have been me. I had the chance to jump in front of her, but I didn't take it. I have nothing to live for, right? I mean, work can't be the only thing in a person's life. That makes a life like Meredith's mother. I don't want that. I should've been shot," Cristina said, starting to cry again.

"Cristina, don't say that."

"But it's the truth. I'm not wanted. I'm not loveable."

"Yes you are," Derek said, moving closer to her.  
"You think?" she asked, looking up into his dark eyes.

"Yes," he said, just as she moved her head to allow her lips to touch his.

They both pulled back for a second, but in the moment, they didn't care. They needed comfort. They suddenly started passionately kissing, as they removed each other's scrubs.


	5. You did what?

"Where's Derek and Cristina?" the chief asked, walking towards Burke who was standing by the nurse's station.

"I'm not sure. I'm not Cristina's keeper any longer. She's free to do whatever she wants. I have no control or right to know what she does. She's free to make all of her own decisions. If she wants to go to the cafeteria, she can go to the cafeteria. If she wants to go outside, she can go outside. How am I to know anything?" Burke said.

"Preston?"

"Yes?"

"Get over it. You dumped her. You're regretting it. If you truly love her, try and get her back. Otherwise, shut up. You're rambling. I'm trying to find her and Derek because I want to let them know Meredith is stable for now."

"Meredith's ok?" Cristina asked, running towards him.

"Yes, she's stable, but we're going to monitor her for the next few weeks. We're not sure yet if she's going to have full use of her legs, but her upper body seems to not be affected by the bullet. It was close enough to the spinal cord to cause us some worry. We're not sure when she's going to wake up. She's had quite a bit of trauma," the chief said.

"Well that's good. That's very good. Excuse me," Cristina said, walking away briskly.

"That was weird."

"I know. She didn't ask to see Meredith," Burke said.

"Not just that. She smelled like Derek's cologne," the chief said.

"Well he was comforting her."

"That must be it. Now where's Derek? He must be dying to find out about Meredith."

"Derek! Derek!" George hollered down the hallway.

"George! What's going on?"

"The chief said Meredith was going to be okay!"

"Oh thank God!" Derek said.

"They don't know what's going to happen though. The bullet was really close to her spinal cord, so there's a possibility that she may be paralyzed. Her upper body isn't affected thought. That's good."

"Hmmm?" Derek asked, looking away from george.

George turned around to look in the direction Derek was looking and saw Cristina. "I said she may be paralyzed, but her upper body isn't affected."

"Yeah, that's good," Derek said, distracted. "I'm gonna go. Bye O'Malley."

"Cristina," Derek said, walking up behind her.

"What? No, no, no, no. we can not do this! You are my best friend's boyfriend. You are the love of her life. What happened was a mistake! It can never happen again!" Cristina said, turning towards him.

"You think I wanted to sleep with you? Meredith and I were seemingly on the verge of breaking up, then she gets shot, and then she's fighting for her life. Believe me, having sex with you was not on my agenda for the day," Derek said.

"You two had sex?" Izzie asked, causing both of them to whip around.

"Where's Derek?" Meredith asked.

"I'm not sure. I could page him for you," George offered.

"MEREDITH!"

"Mrs. Weber?" Meredith asked, trying to cause her cloudy vision to clear.

"Yes, dear. Is there anything I can get for you? I know that you don't have your mother here anymore, and your father, well, he's not good for you. So I'm here. I'm going to be your fill-in mother," Adele said.

"Well thank you Mrs. Weber, but I really don't need-"

"Hush now. And call me Adele. I just got released from this hospital so I know how horrible the food is. Is there anything I can bring up for you?"

"Cookies," Meredith answered quickly. "I'm craving cookies."

"No problem, I'll just run to the store. No, better yet, I'll make them myself."

"Thank you so much. And when you come back, could you bring a jar of pickles?"

"Pickles? Meredith, you hate pickles," George said.

"I do? I do. That's weird. I'm having the strongest craving ever for pickles."

"Mer, do you think it's possible that you could be, I don't know…pregnant?" Adele asked.

"After getting shot? I doubt it. I lost a lot of blood and was without a heartbeat for awhile."

"Is it possible?"

"I suppose so, but it would be a long shot," Mer said, looking at geroge.

"I'll go and get Addison," Adele said, getting up and leaving.

Addison came in a few minutes later and got everything ready for the test and left.

"George, do you think it's weird that Derek hasn't been here to see me yet? Shouldn't he have been the first one to see me? Or the first one after Cristina? On second thought, shouldn't Cristina have been in here like, twenty minutes after I was brought in here?"

"Yeah, it is kind of weird. I'm not sure what's going on. I can go and find out though," George offered.

"That would be great," Meredith said

"Meredith?" Addison asked, poking her head in the room just as George got up. "George, can you leave us alone for a minute?" Addison asked.  
"Sure-"

"No, George can stay. He's the only one to come and visit me," Meredith said.

"Well, Meredith, I don't know how this happened."

"What happened?"

"It sounds impossible that it could be true."

"What are you talking about?"

"Meredith Grey. You're pregnant."

Authors note:

Thanks for everyone who has reviewed. I'm sorry for the little upset about Derek and Cristina, it just seemed to fit there. Don't worry. It's not necessarily a Derek/Cristina fan fic. I'm not sure yet what's going to happen.


	6. Cafeteria fights always draw attention

"Pregnant? I'm pregnant?" Meredith said in total disbelief.

"Yes, you are Meredith. It's a miracle. But you know all of the options: carry it full term, adoption, or abort. Do you know what you want to do?" Addison asked.

"I need to talk to Derek. He has as much say as I do. George, can you go and find me Derek?" Meredith asked, still with a look of a deer caught in headlights look upon her face.

"Yeah, sure."

George got up and left. He walked out to the cafeteria because he needed something. He didn't know what, but he needed something. He saw Derek and Cristina and walked over to them.

"You two had sex?" Izzie repeated again.

"Iz, it's not what you think," Cristina started.

"You two slept together while Meredith was in there fighting for her life. Is that now what happened. Oh wait, maybe this is it: you two were together, decided to get naked for the hell of it, and fell on top of each other? Is that what happened? No, you two were just standing there and it was a fate of God that your clothes just magically came off and you had to finish what was meant for you two to start? How's that?" Izzie said, angrily.

"Dr. Stevens, you need to keep your voice down," Derek said.

"Keep my voice down or keep my mouth shut? Because I do not want to keep this from Meredith. I know how hard it was for me to find Alex cheating on me, but it would have been much harder finding out Meredith or George or even you two knew about it and didn't tell me."

"Izzie, it was a mistake.," Cristina said. "We were both upset. We both made a mistake. We both-"

"Are stupid?" George chimed in, causing them to turn around.

"George!" Izzie said, relieved she wasn't the only one to take on this information.

"O' Malley, this isn't really what it looks-"

"Like?" George finished. "Yeah, I think it kind of is. And I think I'm going to tell Meredith. This will allow her to make a decision on her own, without consulting you, Derek. She just found out miraculous news, and wanted to talk it over with you, but now, I don't know if she's going to want to."

"What miraculous news, George?" Izzie asked.

"Even after all of the complications Meredith endured while on the operating table, she was still capable of managing enough for a child to be forming. Yeah, that's right Derek, I said child. Your child. The child you created with Meredith, and while she was fighting for her life and still providing for this child, you slept with her best friend. Go to Hell Dr. Shepherd," George said, turning to walk away.

"Wait!" Derek yelled, turning George to face him. "Don't tell her George. Please? If I could go back and undo what I did, I would. So would Cristina. Please."

"No," George said, pulling out of his grasp. Derek reached for him, and George retaliated with a punch. Soon, Derek and George were in a full out fight, with fists flying everywhere. It took Burke, Weber, Sloane, and Callie to break them up.

"Fine Derek, fine," George said. "I won't say a word."

"Thank you," Derek said.

"Iz, you keep your mouth shut also," Cristina said to her.

"No."

"Yes!" Cristina said, flying at her and grabbing onto her hair.

Izzie retaliated, and Cristina and Izzie both had hair lying everywhere, and throwing each other around the cafeteria. By this time, almost the entire hospital staff was in the cafeteria, watching the fights take place. Finally, Bailey, Callie, Olivia, and Sidney broke them up.

"Fine, I won't say anything either!"

"Say what?!" the Chief demanded.

"Nothing," All four said together.

Derek walked away to go and find Meredith. He walked into the room to find Meredith crying.

"Mer," Derek said, sitting down by her bed, "what's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant," Meredith sobbed.

"That's a good thing," Derek said.

"No, it's not."

"Why not? It's still a miracle you're still carrying this child after everything your body has gone through in the last 12 hours," Derek soothed.

"Alex stopped in here a few minutes ago. It's not good because I'm a new resident. It's not good because I'm not married-"

"We could get married."

"No, we couldn't," Meredith said, sobbing even more.

"Why not?" Derek asked.

"Because I'm breaking up with you. I want you to go now Derek."

Derek got up, unsure of what was going on, and started to walk out the door.

"Oh, and Derek?" Meredith called.

"Yes?"

"I want you to do me a favor. I want you to go and find Cristina and tell her one thing for me."

"Okay?"

"Tell her, 'I know'," Meredith said, turning away from him.


	7. The truth shall set you free

"Cristina!" Derek hollered down the hallway.

"Derek not now! I'm on my way to visit Meredith," Cristina said back.

"She knows."

"WHAT?!"

"She's pregnant, dumped me, and wanted me to tell you she knows," Derek said.

"How? How does she know?" Cristina asked, starting to panic.

"I think Meredith said something about Alex going and visiting her."

"Cristina?" George said, walking out of Meredith's room.

"Yeah?"

"Meredith wants to talk to you."

"Oh my God?! What am I going to do?"

"Go in there," George said.

Cristina looked panicked for a second and reluctantly walked into Meredith's room.

"You, you, you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, Cristina, I broke up with Derek," Meredith said, starting to cry. "And, I'm pregnant!"

"I know," Cristina said.

"How could this happen? I don't understand?!"

"It was just something that happened. I mean, it didn't mean anything. We were both upset. It meant nothing," Cristina rambled on.

"Cristina? What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean what am I talking about? You told Derek to tell me you knew."

"Yeah, that I finally knew what I had to do about me and Derek. I told you that your getting married was a sign for people like you and me to be happy. When Burke and you didn't get married, I thought Derek and I still had a chance. But I don't think so anymore, so I broke up with him," Meredith said. "What are you talking about?"

"Umm…"

"Karev!"

"What?!" Alex yelled, turning around. "Oh, sorry Dr. Shepherd, I thought you were someone else."

"Where the hell do you get off?"

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, starting to get defensive. "I heard about your little fight with O'Malley, but I can guarantee you that I am nothing like Bambi or Sloane. I'll kick your ass if I have to."

"Oh, you could try. Where do you get off telling Meredith about Cristina and I sleeping together?" Derek asked, in a hushed angry tone.

"You and Yang? Had sex?!" Alex yelled. "Whoa! Wait…you think I told Meredith? Why would I tell Meredith? I would have used it to my advantage to get into some major surgeries."

"Wait, if you didn't tell Meredith-"

"You slept with Cristina?" Burke asked, causing Derek to whip around. As soon as he turned to face Burke, his face ran into Burke's fist, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Dr. Burke!" Alex yelled, helping Derek up. "You shouldn't do this. You shouldn't be hitting your friend in a hospital where everyone can see."

"You have no right to be angry at me Preston!" Derek yelled. "You dumped her!"

"That doesn't mean you can go and have sex with her!" Burke yelled. "Meredith needs to know."

"She already knows. She's in there talking to Cristina right now," Derek said.

Burke turned and walked towards Meredith's room.

"Cristina, what are you talking about? What didn't mean anything?" Meredith asked.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," Cristina said as she saw Burke walking towards the room.

"Cristina!" Burke called.

"Yes?"

"You have a lot of guts standing there in front of Meredith."

"What do you mean?" Cristina asked.

"I'm surprised at you Meredith. I figured you would be yelling and screaming right about now," Burke said to her.

"Yelling? At Cristina? Why?" Meredith asked.

"Because she and Derek slept together while you were in surgery after getting shot," Burke said. "Oh…"

"She didn't know," Cristina said, bracing herself.

"YOU SLEPT WITH DEREK?!?!?! WHILE I WAS IN SURGERY?" Meredith screamed.

"Mer, it wasn't what you think. He was upset and I was upset, and we needed comfort and it happened and it never should have and if I could take it back I would. But I can't."

"Meredith!" Derek yelled, walking into the room.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Meredith got out of the bed, shaking with rage. "You slept with my best friend. You slept with her while I was in surgery. You slept with her!? I can't believe you two! I hate the both of you. GO TO HELL!!!"

"Meredith, you don't mean that. It's all my fault; don't blame Cristina at all," Derek said.

"Oh, so are you saying you raped her? Are you saying you forced yourself on her?"  
"Well, no-"

"So how long as this been going on?" Meredith asked. The commotion had caused Izzie, George, and Alex towards the room. "Have you been sleeping with her on those nights you don't answer your phone? Have you been hooking up with her ever since I almost drowned?"

"No, Meredith, you know he wouldn't do that," Cristina said.

"I helped you. I put on a bridesmaid's dress. I helped you with every detail of the wedding. I played stupid games at your bridal shower. I was there when you broke down when you found out Burke completely left. And what did you do? Sleep with my boyfriend while I'm fighting for my life again!" Meredith said, hunching over.

"Mer?" George asked. "What's wrong?"  
"Get them out of here!" Meredith yelled, screaming in pain.

"Meredith, what's going on?" Derek asked.

"GET OUT!"

"O'Malley," Burke said.

"Yes?"  
"Go and get Dr. Montgomery. Tell her Meredith is bleeding," Burke said, just as Meredith fell to the floor unconscious.

Note: i want to thank all of you for the reviews! it makes me want to write this story even more. if anyone has any suggestions on how you think this should turn out, let me know...i'm not exactly sure what to do from this point on. thanks again and keep reviewing!!


	8. Please?

"MEREDITH!" Cristina screamed, running to her.

"What happened?" Addison asked, running into the room. "Oh my God!" Addison ran towards her body.

"What?" Derek asked. "What's going on?"

"She's having a miscarriage. She's bleeding out. There's too much blood. I need to get her to an OR like two minutes ago," Addison said, as Burke came forwards to help Meredith up.

"Oh my God! Meredith-" Derek started.

"No," Addison said, "she can't have you hovering right now, Derek."

"But it's my baby!"

"But it's in her body. She's losing it. She's the one who's going to feel most of the repercussions. And from what I've been told through the grapevine, you and Cristina may have been the contributing factor for her stress-induced miscarriage. Her body has been traumatized already. Just let her go."

"Addison," Meredith said, weakly.

"Yes, Meredith. I'm going to take care of you."  
"I don't want to die. I don't want this baby to die," she said quietly, as tears streamed down her face.

"I'll do everything I can. I won't let you die. I promise. We've got to go NOW."

"Oh my God, Derek! What have we done?!" Cristina cried.

"I know. I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to hurt her. I wanted this baby," Derek said.

"Look at what we've done! I'm going to commit myself to helping her get better. She's the one who has been there for me through thick and thin. I'm not going to let something like this ruin our friendship. I can't believe I did this to her. She's the only one who knows me completely. She's the only one who has seen the weak side of me. How horrible of a person am I?"

"Cristina, it was my fault-" Derek said.

"No, we made this decision together. It was a bad decision but we both made it. It was a spur of the moment thing. I was upset because of Burke. He's the only person who ever compared to Meredith. Now I've lost them both. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Cristina, we need to take of Meredith. We need to help her get through this. She's not going to be alright for a long time."

"Then you should just leave her the hell alone."

"Burke!" Cristina yelled. "You're not helping."

"It's your fault this is happening. If you had thought before acting, this could have all been prevented. If you would have just thought…"

"Like you did Preston?" Derek asked. "You were sure Cristina was the one. You said you loved her. You proposed to her. You left her. Are you sure you were thinking? Maybe you could have prevented this whole thing. You wouldn't have broken her heart. She shouldn't have been vulnerable."

"Don't you dare blame this on me!"

"Well, you did have a contributing factor," Derek said matter-of-factly.

"Excuse me? Did I force you to have sex with Cristina? Did I sit there and tell you two to do it? I do not think so."

"Oh yeah. You are Preston Burke; world renowned cardiothoracic surgeon. You are the best of the best. You never make a mistake. You have never lied," Cristina said, sarcastically.

"I may have lied, but I never cheated."

"Neither did I!" Cristina cried. "You dumped me. You get that? You dumped me! I did not cheat on you. I loved you. I still love you. And I can't stop hating myself for that fact. So just leave us alone. Stay out of it!"

"Yang! Shepherd! Burke!" the chief shouted.

"Yes, sir?" they all responded.

"You three, I don't even know what to do with you. You start fights in the cafeteria. You cause commotion from the shouting and yelling and crying. And can any of you ever stay out of the rumor pool? My patients now know the lives you all live, and the twisted ways you live your lives. Now, I happen to know for a fact that two of you are partially responsible for the miscarriage of Meredith Grey. So until she is released, I don't want either of you in here. I don't want either of you to cause her anymore stress because other problems may arise."

"How is she?" Derek asked.

"Not good. Her falopean tube has burst, and her uturus isn't looking so good either. She's got a fight, but I'm positive she'll make it."

"How do you know?" Cristina asked. "How do you know? And how can you expect me to leave her alone? She's my person. I need her. And she's going to need me. I went through this. I did this before. Please, Chief. Let her decide if she wants to see me. If she says no, I swear I will avoid this wing like the syphilis endemic is occurring again. Please."

"Okay. But if she says she does not want to see you, you leave her alone. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, sir."

"What about me?" Derek asked.

"No."

"Can't she make up her mind about me to?"

"No."

"But-"

"No. Do I need to get Bailey in here tell you what I mean when I say no?"

"No, sir."

"Good."

"Meredith is waking up," Izzie said, coming up to Cristina.

"Thank you Izzie," Cristina said, walking towards her room.

"Yang," Addison said, grabbing her arm and pulling her away. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go in there."  
"Dr. Montgomery, I talked to the chief. I've been through this. Mer and I can get through this. I told him that if she didn't want to see me, I'd leave her alone. but she needs me whether she'll admit it or not. She needs me."

"Okay, but if she starts to get agitated in anyway, leave her alone and come and get me."

"I will," Cristina said, walking into Meredith's room.

"Hey, Mer."

"Cristina."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I just had a few organs blow up. Oh yeah, I kind of did. Don't worry. It was only my left fellopeon tube and part of my uturus. But then again, what do I need those for?"

"Mer, I'm sorry," Cristina said.

"I can't believe you'd do this to me Cristina."

"I didn't mean to. Mer, you have to believe me. If I could take it back, I would. In a heartbeat. But I can't. But I can help you through this. I went through this. I want to help you. If you'll let me, I will help you," Cristina said.

"What makes you think I want your help?"

"I owe that much to you Mer. You've been there for me through everything. Even if you don't want to speak to me again after this, I will understand, but please let me help you with this. Please," Cristina begged.


	9. People will surprise you

"What do you think is going on in there?" Izzie asked.

"I have no idea," George replied.

"If I were her, I'd really stick it to her. I mean, wasn't Mer the one who got everyone to forgive her for helping hide Burke's tremors?" Alex contributed.

"Yeah, but everyone makes mistakes," George replied.

"But cheating with your best friend's boyfriend is pretty much unforgivable. Cheating with anyone is unforgivable. Look at what happened with me and Iz," Alex said.

"Maybe we should stop staring at them," Callie said, as she walked towards them.

"Maybe everyone should get to work," Bailey said. "But what do I know? I'm not the Chief Resident or anything."

"Are you seriously upset about that?" Callie said.

"Wouldn't you be?" Izzie asked.

"No, I'd be happy for her."

"Yeah, that's because you don't know everything that happens in this hospital. You don't have the ability to control interns when you're on maternity leave. And you didn't open a free clinic and run it. Yeah, I can see why you'd be happy for her," Alex said.

"No, you all, she's right. I should be happy for her. And I am. Congratulations Dr. O'Malley."

"Thank you Dr. Bailey."

"Now, if you'll all excuse me, I need to go and find someone," Bailey said, walking away.

"I'd be fuming," Alex said after she was out of earshot.

"You're not happy for my wife?" George asked.

"No. No offense Callie O'Malley, but you don't really deserve it. I mean, Bailey is really the only one who hasn't hooked up with someone at this hospital, which is kind of against the rules. Every attending and quite a few residents have hooked up with interns. She hasn't. She had a freaking baby, and she was still able to get us in line. You married an intern who was grieving over his father. Yeah, you really deserve it."

"Alex!" George yelled.

"Sorry dude. All I have is the truth. I tell the truth. I'm an ass. You know this. We all know this. Get over it."

"But you don't have to be rude about it!" George said.

"Whatever," Alex said, walking away.

"He's right," Izzie said. "No offense."

"Chief!" Bailey called, walking quickly towards him.

"Dr. Bailey. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I want to talk to you about your choice for Chief Resident."

"Dr. Bailey, you know you're one of my favorites, but that's the problem. I like you too much for this to be an unbiased decision. You do great things in this hospital. You are this all-knowing being that intimidates people. Plus you wouldn't have as much time to work in the free clinic."

"Okay, I understand that, sir, but I didn't necessarily mean 'talk about your choice' in that sense. I wanted to talk to you about your choice because it has influence me to make a choice of my own."

"What do you mean?" the Chief asked.

"I've been offered a position at Mercy West. I don't really have much of a reason to stay here anymore. I've decided to take the offer. This is my notice. I will be here for the next two months, and then I'll be gone. I just wanted you to be the first to know," Dr. Bailey said, turning from his office and walking away.

"Dr. Bailey!" the chief called. "What can I do to change your mind?"

"Mer?" Cristina asked. "Will you let me help you?"

"I don't know."

"Please Mer! I owe you so much. This is the least I can do. I want to try and make all of this up to you. I want you to forgive me, to be able to, eventually. Not right now, but eventually."

"Well, I guess," Meredith said, unsure.

"Alex," Olivia said.

"Yeah?"

"There's someone who has been admitted here who has asked for you by name."

"For me? Why? Who?"

"A Rebecca Hope. She's been admitted for abnormal cell growth in her cervix."

"What? She just had a baby. What room?"

"313."

"Rebecca?" Alex asked, while entering her room.

"Alex! How did this happen? I just had a baby. How can this be possible?"

"I don't know. Let me just find Addison, but I'm sure everything will be fine. By the way, where's your husband?"

"He is, um, I'm not really sure."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, my baby is with my mom. He's gone. I'm not really sure where he is, but I'm not really that worried about it."

"You're not?"

"No, because I have you. I know you'll take care of me."

"Yes, I will. I promise."

"Meredith?" Izzie asked.

"Yeah Iz?"

"I know you probably don't want to be thinking about this, but what are you planning on doing about Derek? He's kind of, what's the right word-oh yeah, pathetic. He's moping around, wanting to be around you, yet he agreed to leave you alone until you're better. I'm just wondering."

"Well, the truth is, I still love him. I still want to be with him. But I don't trust him anymore. I hate myself for loving him still. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Mer?" a voice came from the door.

"Finn?"


	10. Lenghts people go to

"Finn?" Meredith repeated.

"Hi Meredith. I just came to see how you were doing. I heard about the shooting. Are you okay?" McVet asked.

"Oh, that, yeah. I'm okay. Just your everyday 'dad-shoots-daughter' scenario. How have you been?"

"I've been, um, surviving, ha. If you want to call it that. I'm just, kind of, I don't know; alive?"

"I'm just going to leave you two alone," Izzie said, getting up. "I'll come by and see you later, Mer."

"By Iz."

"So, tell me what happened," Finn said.

"Well, it all started when my mother died, all the while I was fighting to not die from hypothermia after the ferry boat accident…"

"Derek!" Izzie called.

"Dr. Stevens?" Derek asked, turning around. "What's wrong?"

"Um, I don't know how to tell you but, um, Finn is back."

"Finn?" Derek asked, confused. "You mean Dr. Finn Dandridge? McVet?"

"Yes. He's in there with Mer right now. I just thought you might want to know that your ex pregnant ex girlfriend is in there with her ex boyfriend."

"Shit," Derek said, taking off walking really fast towards Meredith's room.

"SHEPHERD!!!" the Chief barked.

Derek stopped dead in his tracks. "But sir, Meredith is in there with her ex. I can't let him get her back. I have to try and get her back!"

"Not until she is released from the hospital."

"But-"

"That is an order!"

"Yes, sir."

Derek turned and walked away.

"Did you guys hear?" Alex asked, walking up to Cristina, Izzie, and George, with Rebecca walking behind.

"Hear what?" Izzie asked, looking at Rebecca.

"Don't worry. I know everyone's history. I lived here remember?" Rebecca said.

"Yeah, she knew this before I did. I seriously want to be a patient here for just one day. They hear EVERYTHING. But anyway, Bailey is leaving."

"Bailey? As in Dr. Bailey?" George asked.

"Yes, do you know any other Bailey?"

"Why?"

"Apparently she was offered a job a Mercy West and since she was passed over for Chief Resident, she has not real reason to stay."

"NO! she can't do that. She can't do that right? The chief wouldn't let her, would he?" Izzie asked.

"Would he really stand up to Bailey?" Cristina asked.

"George?" Bailey called. "Can you come over here for a minute please?"

"Sure," George said, getting up.

"George, you know you're not a resident, right?"

"Yes," George said, looking at the ground.

"Have you decided what you're going to do?"

"I'm going to be an intern again."

"Have you told them?"

"No, and I'm not going to if I can help it. I can't take the look of disappointment right now."

"They're going to find out eventually, George."

"I know. I thought about leaving and going somewhere else, but I don't know what I would do."

"I understand," Bailey said, turning to walk away.

"Dr. Bailey?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you running away?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're leaving here for Mercy West. Why? You told me this was the best program. This has the top notch surgeons. You asked me why I would want to leave here for an average program. But then you're going over there. I'm just wondering why?"

"Because I've always loved it here. I've always felt respected. I've always felt that my feeling were taken into consideration. And I've always believed hard work pays off. But it doesn't in my case. Not here. I need to go somewhere where I can feel like I'm doing good and being recognized for it. I'm not saying your wife doesn't deserve the position because I'm positive she'll do a good job, it's just the fact of how the decision was made."

"I understand. Would you stay if you were given the position?"

"You mean, have Callie back down and have the Chief asked me to fill it? No."

"Why not?"

"Because I would feel as though I got the position because of guilt and pity. I would feel like I didn't actually deserve the position."

"Oh, I understand. I don't want you to leave Dr. Bailey."

"It's my time, George."

"Dr. Weber?"

"Yes, O'Malley?"

"Let's just say, hypothetically, Callie were to do something that would cause her to be demoted from Chief Resident, what would she have to do, like how severe would she have to do something to get demoted?"

"George, what are you asking me?"

"I'm just curious, hypothetically, what Callie would have to do to no longer be Chief Resident. What would be severe enough for the position to be vacant for someone else to fill it?" George said, emphasizing what he was saying to have the Chief catch on.

"Oh. OH! Well, it's kind of strange that you are asking me how to get your wife out of the Chief Resident position, but she would, hypothetically of course, have to put a patient's life in real critical danger. Hypothetically of course."

"Of course."

"Wow, it sounds like you have been through a lot."

"Yeah, Finn, I have. But it's okay. I think. It's going to be okay."

"Well, Mer, I feel kind of stupid for how upset I've been, thinking your life is all perfect. I'm so sorry all of this happened."

"It's okay," Meredith said.

"Well I should probably be going," Finn said, getting up.

"Thank you for coming to visit me," Meredith replied.

"No problem. Hey Mer? When you get out of here, would you like to come on a date with me? Maybe birth a pony?"

"Umm, maybe. I don't know for sure," Meredith said, uneasily.

"That's okay. I kinda of caught you off guard. I'll come back later."

"Hey Mer?" George asked, running into the room. "Oh sorry, Dr. Dandridge."

"That's okay. I'll talk to you later."

"What's up George?"

"Mer? How much would you go through to get Bailey to never leave here?"  
"I'd almost give my life, why? Is she leaving?"

"That's just what I wanted to talk to you about…"

"You want me to do what?!"

"Just-"

"I heard you! I can't believe you'd ask me to do this George!"

"Why? Meredith already agreed to having her life endangered," George said.

"But I could lose my license. I can't believe you're asking me to compromise my position!" Callie screamed.

"I just don't want Dr. Bailey to leave," George said. "You know she deserves it, Callie. Come on."

"And I don't deserve it? I didn't do well this year? The chief just pulled my name out of a hat? Goerge, I can't believe you're asking me to do this. I can't believe you. I don't even know who you are right now."

"Callie, please," George begged.

"No."

"Try to win her back."

"How Addison? The chief won't let me in the room?" Derek asked.

"You don't have to physically go in there. Send things in there. Show her how much she means to you. You can do it, Derek. I have faith in you."

"Just leave her alone," Finn said.

"Excuse me?"

"You cheated on her with her best friend. She chose you over me, and you have hurt her once again. Just let her go and let her be happy. For once, don't be selfish."

"I need her, Finn. That's what you don't understand. She makes me feel as though I have a purpose in life. She makes me feel whole. I thought I was going to die if she died. Believe me, if I could turn back time I would in a heartbeat. But I can't, and I won't give up on her."

"Well, you really should," Finn said, just as his fist met Derek's face.


	11. Recap

This is just a recap for anyone who read this before and has forgotten what has already happened since I last updated a million years ago (like I did).

Burke left Cristina and she broke down. Meredith gets shot by Thatcher. Cristina and Derek comfort each other and it gets a little out of hand; they sleep together while Meredith is in surgery. Izzie overhears the two of them talking and starts yelling at their infidelity. George overhears izzie's rant and is pissed. Derek and George fight (lots of fists fly in the story) in order to keep Meredith from knowing the truth. Izzie and Cristina fight for the same thing (again with the fists). George and Izzie agree to not say anything. Meredith finds out she's pregnant. Meredith breaks up with Derek and causes him to believe she knows. Derek tell Cristina that she knows, and Cristina enters the room expecting the worse, only to find out that Meredith has no idea. Meredith becomes upset and ends up miscarrying. She tells Addison she doesn't want to die and she doesn't want the baby to die. It turns out that Meredith's left fallopian tube burst and she lost the baby. Derek and Cristina are banned from Meredith by the Chief, but Christina convinces him that she'll be able to help Meredith through this because of her experience. The chief gives in only when Cristina says she'll "avoid the wing like the syphilis epidemic is occurring again" if Meredith says she does not want to see her. Bailey tells the Chief she's leaving to go to Mercy West because of his decision of Chief Resident. Ava comes back because of possible cervix cancer. Alex learns that her husband left. Finn comes to visit Meredith and asks her out, and she refuses because of the recent events. Derek believes that Alex was the one who told Meredith about him and Cristina only to have Burke overhear. Burke is pissed and punches Derek (I did say fists). George talks to Meredith and asks her if she'd be willing to put her life on the line to get Callie demoted in order to keep Bailey; she agrees. George talks to Callie about it, and Callie is appalled by the proposition. Addison and Derek are talking about ways to show Meredith how much he loves her even though he's not allowed to see her when Finn tells him to leave her alone and punches him (hence the "Lots" part of the fists statement).


	12. People will surprise you 2

"Dr. Dandridge!" Addison yelled, bending down to help Derek up.

"What is going on today?!" The Chief yelled, hurrying over to the two men. "Fists are flying everywhere! And who are you and why are you punching my head of neurosurgery?"

"This is Finn Dandridge-Meredith's ex," Addison said.

"Wow, Meredith must be a really good lay," Sloane said, walking up to the group, "if she's got people punching people all around."

"I don't know who you are but I'll punch you out too for talking about Mer like that!" Finn said, his temper almost boiling over.

"Whoa there bud, I didn't mean anything bad by it. I'm the biggest slut in the hospital; Mer and I started the "Dirty Mistresses" club. She's the only person I can kind of relate to...which is saying a lot for me. But as the head of the Plastics, I would have to tell you that you will want to get out of here before you punch Derek again, because I can rearrange your face in many unfixable ways," Sloane said, getting ready to punch this outsider.

"So you must be the example that was set for Derek. Idiot see, idiot do?" Finn said.

"Now I'm ordering you to get out of here before I allow my head of Neurosurgery and head of Plastics kick your ass!" The Chief said.

"And who the hell are you exactly?"

"The Chief of Surgery. I run this hospital, and I am officially banning you from this hospital unless you have a medical emergency but I would probably suggest you find a way to get to Mercy West instead of Seattle Grace. Now go!"

Finn turned and left in a huff.

"What the hell is going on today? First a shooting, then Derek and O'Malley, then Yang and Stevens, then Derek and this crazy guy?" the Chief asked.

"Don't forget Burke and Derek," Addison said.

"My head of cardio and Neuro threw blows? I'll ask again: What the hell is going on today?"

"Long story chief, long story," Derek said, shaking his head. "Thanks for coming to my rescue Mark."

"No problem. No matter how much may have come between us, I will always have your back. Now if you get hit in the face anymore times today, you may need me to have your face too…try and avoid that okay?"

"Haha, okay," Derek said.

"Derek?"

"Yeah Chief?"

"You definitely need to stay away from Meredith now."

"Hey fellow mistress," Sloane said, sticking his head in the room.

"Hey yourself. Come in. I'm bored. Anything interesting happening out there?"

"Well, you've caused quite a few fights today. Almost got into one myself."

"You almost got into a fight because of me?" Meredith ask, surprised.

"What can I say?" Sloane said, mimicking brushing dirt off his shoulder.

"Who all has gotten into a fight?"

"Well let's see. There was Derek and O'Malley. Then Yang and Stevens. That was one I would pay to see again. Then there was Derek and Burke; I didn't see that one but I can only imagine. Then Derek and the crazy vet tech freak. I almost had to fight that little kid too. He's now officially banned from the hospital."

"Wow, Derek's gotten into quite a few fights today. How bad does he look?" Meredith questioned.

"Pathetic. Oh wait, you meant from the punches? Haha. He won't need my services, but he'll be bruised for a few days at least"

"Good," Meredith said as they both laughed. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what do you need? A full body massage?" Sloane asked, raising his eyebrows seductively.

"No, not right now anyway," Meredith said as they both laughed. "Can you get me some water?"

"Sure. Will the bathroom tap water work or would you like sparkling water from the resort thirty miles away? Just say the word and I'll be there."

"Haha thanks, but the bathroom tap will do just fine," Meredith told him.

Mark walking into the bathroom as Meredith closed her eyes. He looked into the mirror and saw the reflection of Thatcher holding a knife.

"Mer watch out!" Mark yelled, causing Meredith to jump up.

"You killed her. My only reason to live. You killed her. Now she's dead like your good for nothing mother. She broke my heart. But Susan, she put the pieces back together," Thatcher slurred.

"Man, be cool and just put the knife down," Mark said.

"No. She has to die. She has to die just like Susan did. She has to die in this hospital," Thatcher said, lunging towards Meredith.

Mark saw this and saw Meredith cornered between the bed and the window. Against every selfish bone in his body he lunged in front of her, tackling Thatcher. Thatcher, clearly upset with the interference again, stabbed the knife into Mark's back before scrambling up to his feet and running away.

"Mark? Mark?" Meredith asked, rushing to his side. "No!" Meredith saw the knife was lodged between two of his vertebrae, no doubt perforating


	13. He has a heart

"Derek!!!!" Meredith screamed as she hurried as quickly as physically possible for someone who just has surgery out the door.

"Meredith? Are you okay?" Derek asked as he came running.

"It's Mark! Help!" Meredith said, catching the attention of the Chief and Addison as well.

"What happened?!" the chief almost yelled.

"My dad came in here. Mark jumped in front of me-I should have been stabbed. Not him!" Meredith said as she started to cry.

"Mark? Oh my God!" Addison said, kneeling down beside Derek as he examined the knife placement.

"We need to get him to the OR quickly. He's losing a lot of blood and if we want to save his ability to walk, we have to be careful," Derek said.

"Derek? Can you-? I mean, could he-?" Meredith asked.

"I'll do everything I can to keep him from being paralyzed," Derek said as they were rolling Mark down the hall towards the OR.

"Meredith, what happened exactly?" the Chief asked as the police came into the room.

"Mark was in here visiting me and telling me the tales of all of the fights that have been happening today. I asked him if he could get me something to drink so he walked into the bathroom as I closed my eyes. He must have seen Thatcher's reflection in the mirror or something because he yelled at me watch out. I jumped up, but I was trapped. Thatcher started running towards me with the knife in his hand, and Mark jumped in front of me. He saved me," Meredith said as she started crying again.

"Mark jumped in front of you?" Addison asked, somewhat shocked.

"Very unlike him, huh?" Burke asked, walking into the room.

"I just don't understand," Addison asked as she moved closer to Meredith and put her arm around her to comfort her.

"Now there's something else I never thought I'd see," the Chief said.

"Yeah, well I don't hate her like everyone thinks."

"I think I may know why he jumped in front of Meredith," Burke said.

"Why's that?" the Chief asked.

"Well, I did overhear him yelling at that vet man that Meredith was one of the only people he can relate to. Maybe he had a moment of selflessness because he thinks of Meredith as a friend. Strange, I know, but people surprise you."

"I remember him saying that too," Addison said.

"It should have been me," Meredith said.

"How's he doing?" Burke asked.

"Well, I got the knife out of his back, but we won't know about the paralysis until he wakes up," Derek said.

"Derek?" Mark asked, coming out of the anesthesia.

"Mark, I'm here. How are you feeling?"

"Did I really jump in front of a knife?"

"Yeah, dude, you did," Alex said, entering the room.

"Why would I do that? I mean, seriously. Why?"

"Because you had a moment of selflessness," Derek said, putting his hand on Mark's shoulders.

"That doesn't sound like me."

"We know," Burke, Derek, and Alex said at the same time.

"Gee thanks. How much damage did it do?"

"Well, the knife was lodged in between two of your vertebrae," Derek said.

"Am I paralyzed? Oh my God! Can I still have sex?" Mark asked, starting to freak out.

"You tell us," Burke said. "Move your feet."

Mark looked at Derek, apprehension clear across his face. Suddenly they all saw Mark's left foot move and then his right one.

"Oh thank you Lord! I can still have sex!"

"Only you would think about sex before walking," Addison said, leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah, well you know me, man-whore extraordinaire."

"We should let him rest," Derek said as they all started to leave.

"Are you sleeping?" Meredith whispered.

"Nope," Mark replied.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I was just stabbed," Mark said, seeing Meredith turn her head to the floor. "Don't worry about it, Mer. I did what I did because, well I don't really know why, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Would I lie to a fellow "Dirty Mistress"?" Mark asked, causing Meredith to giggle a little.

"I'm really sorry Mark. You should have just let him stab me."

"After everything you've already been through today? You wouldn't make it through another surgery. Naw, it's all good. Besides, I have a confession to make."

"Yeah?" Meredith asked, raising her eyebrows. "You did this just to get multiple sponge baths from the nurses who are currently on strike against your charm?"

"Haha, well yeah, but not so much. You're one of the only people I consider to be a friend. I don't want to see anything happen to you. But if anyone asks, I did it for the sponge baths."

"Okay. Well I'm flattered that you feel I'm friend-worthy."

"How flattered?"

"Not that flattered," Meredith said, laughing.

"Okay, well friends tell each other things, right?"

"Yeah," Meredith responded.

"I didn't cheat on Addison."

"What?"

"She cheated on me with Karev."

"She did what? With who? And you did what?" Meredith asked, surprised.

"I don't really know. But I now know what it's like to be cheated on and rejected. I don't ever want to do that again to someone I care about Meredith."

"So just tell her you know and you want to change."

"I can't. I may have come to some realizations but I still have my pride," Mark said, shaking his head.

"You didn't see her though, Mark. She was worried when she saw you. When I told her that you jumped in front of me to save me, she was impressed, I could tell."

"She was worried?"

"Yeah, she was. I looked so scared, and she comforted me. She cares about you Mark. I think you're almost dying and heroic actions made her realize what she feels for you."

"But she wants someone to have kids with."

"And what? You're now opposed to sex?"

"No, but I don't know if I could do kids. I mean, we had one on the way a while ago, but she aborted it. I don't know if I could go through that again…if she were to lose the baby, which is a good possibility since she isn't 26 anymore and has a stressful job. If I lost another child, I couldn't take it," Mark said, leaving Meredith with her mouth hanging open.


	14. How does he keep getting in here?

"Um…wow. I don't, well, yeah, wow," Meredith said, clearly shocked.

"Yeah, I know. Wouldn't expect it huh?" Mark said, laughing.

"Uh, no."

"Well, I'm finding out I'm surprising people everyday."

"So I see you're okay," Addison said.

"Yeah, looks that way," Mark said, avoiding looking at her.

"I heard you're able to have sex still," Addison, mentally kicking herself for that comment.

"Not today, but yeah," Mark said, trying hard not to smile.

"Well, I'm just going to go now," Addison said. "And bang my head against the wall a few times in the locker room," she added to herself.

Addison turns out the door and starts walking when she runs into Meredith.

"Dr. Grey, what are you doing out of bed?" she asked.

"Um, just taking a walk I guess. Hey can I talk to you for a minute?" Meredith asked.

"Well I really need to get back to work and don't really want to hear about your relationship with my ex-husband."

"This isn't really for me. It's actually kind of for you," Meredith said, walking into her room.

"Okay, what do you mean it's for me?"

"Well, it's about Mark."

"Well, I don't really need to hear this," Addison said, turning to walk out the door.

"You had a baby with him?"

Addison stopped and turned around. "What-what did you say?"

"He told me you had a baby with him. And I've heard that you're looking for a guy to have kids with. He also told me a few things that have surprised me-things that make him really human."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that you aborted his child. That fact that he's still hurt about it. Or how about the fact that he told you he couldn't last the full 60 days because he didn't have the heart to tell you that he knows you slept with Alex. You made him realize what it's like to be cheated on. He wants you but he's scare," Meredith said.

"He said that?"

"Yeah, because he and I are friends. But I don't think he really wanted you to know, but I don't care. I want him to be happy and you deserve to be happy too. I hope you two find a way to be together."

"Cristina," Burke said, walking into the on-call room where she was lying down.

"Go away."

"Please, talk to me."

"Why?" Cristina asked, sitting up. "What do you want, Burke? What could you possibly have to talk to me about?"

"I miss you."

"You left me!" Cristina said, jumping up. "You left me at the church. I gave up my apartment. I committed to you. I agreed to marry you. I put on a dress I couldn't breathe in, even though you know it's not me to put on a dress. I agreed to a big wedding even though I told you I wanted a small wedding in City Hall. I let 'mama' take my eyebrows. I put on the 'Burke' choker that weighed more than I did. Why did I do this? For you, that's why. I was selfless. I did all of this because it was what would make you happy; that's what you do when you're in love. The person you are in love with, their happiness, it comes before your own. But not with you it didn't. With you it was all about you. I think you did love me once, but somehow you fell out of it. So what do we have to talk about, Burke? Huh? Because you don't have the right to tell me you miss me, not after YOU left ME!"

"You're right. I was selfish. I wanted something you didn't want and I pushed it on you. But that does not mean I don't love you. I agreed to hide my tremors and let you on all of the surgeries you wanted-"

"You LET me? I did this because you were scared to say anything; you were scared you would lose your hand function. I did it for you. The surgeries? I could care less about the surgeries-FUCK the surgeries! You really don't know me if you thought that's all I cared about."

"You were a surgery hungry intern. You are now a surgery hungry resident. That's who you are, Cristina."

"No, that's who I was. I now know about those things in life-those people-who come before any surgery. Do you know how many surgeries I missed today? Do you know how many surgeries I could have been in on? But did I? No. You think that's all I care about. Well fuck you Preston!" Cristina said, walking out of the room, slamming the door in Burke's face as he tried to follow her.

"You are the person she cares about the most; the person who is her best friend. I also know she's your best friend. Well being a friend of Meredith Grey's is a dangerous thing to be. I can't seem to hurt her directly, so I'm going to hurt the people around her," Thatcher said, pointing the gun at Cristina.

Burke sat down on the bed. 'I really don't know her, do I?' he thought to himself. He still loved her; he knew it. 'What am I going to do? I can live without her, right? Maybe I'll just have to move on.'

He jumped up as he heard the three gun shots that interrupted his thoughts. 'Thatcher! How the hell does he keep getting into this building?'

He opened the door to see Cristina lying on the ground instead of Meredith as he expected.


	15. Will she fight or will she die?

"Were those gun shots?" Alex asked, running from Ava's room.

"Gun shots?" Bailey asked, looking at the Chief as Alex ran by.

"CRISTINA!" Burke yelled, hearing the footprints. "Stop! Don't run any further! Go back and call the cops!"

Alex didn't listen and kept running once he heard Cristina's name. She was a hard core chick who always challenged him. As he rounded the corner he never saw the gun before he went down.

"Karev!" Bailey yelled.

"Bailey, you call the police," the Chief said, breaking into a run. "Son-of-a-bitch."

"No one else come around the corner around!" Thatcher yelled.

"Please, Mr. Grey, " Burke pleaded, "she needs help. She's bleeding out. She's had a rough couple of days. Meredith is mad at her and practically disowned her as a friend. Please, if we don't get her to an OR soon she won't fight long enough to stay alive."

"Well that sucks now doesn't it?" Thatcher said.

"You don't want them, you want me," the Chief said, rounding the corner.

"You bastard! I will shoot you! Don't you think for a second that I won't shoot you!"

"I know you're mad at me, Thatcher, but this is the right way to do things."

"You were the other man. You were the one who took Meredith's mother away from me," Thatcher said, bringing his hands up to his face.

Burke looked up, seeing Thatcher vulnerable, and lunged at his knees, knocking the gun to the ground.

The gun slid across the floor, hit the wall and bounced off, changing direction and hitting the heel of Derek's foot. "What the-" Derek said, slowly realizing where this had to have come from. He took off running, and stopped when he saw Burke viciously beating Thatcher, and Cristina and Alex lying on the floor in a pool of blood. "WE NEED TO GET THEM TO THE OR!"

"Alex was shot?" Izzie asked, pacing in the on-call room.

"So was Cristina," George said.

"Here you two are, surprise surpise. Why am I even surprised to find you together? Why the hell aren't you working?" Callie yelled.

"Because Alex was shot," Izzie said, obviously pissed off.

"And so was Cristina. The Chief took us off all surgeries because of it," George said.

"Oh," Callie said, feeling kind of dumb.

"Do you think Meredith knows?" Izzie asked suddenly, causing George to look at her with wide eyes.

"Doubt it."

"Should we tell Meredith?" Izzie asked.

"Tell Meredith what?" Meredith asked, walking into the room.

"Why do I always do that?"

"What's going on?"

"Um, Mer, I don't know how to tell you this exactly, but, um," George stammered. "Meredith," Callie said, causing her to turn around, fear evident in Meredith's face. "Cristina and Alex have been shot."

"Shot?"

"By your father," Callie said.

"Oh my God!" Meredith said before breaking down into tears. "How many people are going to be getting hurt because of me?"

"Meredith," Derek said, walking into the room.

"Derek, oh my God!" she said, rushing towards him, just needing to feel his arms around her.

"Meredith, we need to get you out of here. You too George and Izzie. There are police here to escort you to the house to get your things. Meredith, you will be escorted to the hotel right away."

"What? We have to leave?" George asked.

"Unless you want to risk getting shot, yes," Derek said.

"But didn't they arrest Thatcher?" Izzie asked.

"Yes, but he managed to get away. We're now dealing with an attempted murderer of four people plus the endangerment of hundreds of others, but he's now a fugitive on the run. He is not mentally stable, and we have no idea what he's capable of doing," Derek said.

"Derek?"

"Yeah, Mer?"

"How are Cristina and Alex?"

"Not good, Mer, not good."

"Chief?" Bailey asked.

"Yeah?"

"We're having trouble stopping the bleeding; Yang's going to bleed out. And because of the events, I'm scared she's not going to fight like hell like she normally would."

"We are not going to lose an intern because of Thatcher Grey!" the Chief said.

"She's flat lining!" the OR nurse said.


	16. I need you

"Cristina, you are not going to die on us!" Bailey yelled, grabbing the paddles.

"Chief? We can't get Karev's bleeding under control," the OR nurse said.

"He's flat lining!" a nurse yelled suddenly.

"I got her, Chief. You go save Karev," Bailey said. "Clear."

"Get those paddles ready and charged to 200," The chief said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Derek?" Meredith said, tears running down her face as they sat outside her house, ready to go and grab her things.

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

"I know."

"No, I mean I'm really scared, Derek. My whole world is falling apart right now. Not only did I get shot, but you and Cristina slept together, I was pregnant, I lost the baby, Mark gets stabbed protecting me, Cristina gets shot, Alex gets shot, they're fighting for their lives, and now my dad is still on the lose and trying to kill me. I'm scared. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You're going to go to the hotel. You're going to stay there and recuperate. They're going to find Thatcher and he's going to be put away for years and years. He won't hurt you ever again," Derek said, putting his hand on Meredith's knee.

"How do you know?"

"Because I won't let him," Derek said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How are they?" Izzie asked.

"You were supposed to go and get your stuff and then go to the hotel."

"How are they?" she asked again.

"Stevens."

"No, Chief. How are they?"

"They're stable. They'll be kept in ICU for the next couple of days, but they should make a full recovery. Now go and get your stuff and head to the hotel," the Chief said.

"Thank you, sir."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex started to wake up, shaking his head slightly in an attempt to clear away the fog he felt.

"Hey."

"Izzie?"

"Yeah. You almost died today," Izzie said, walking over to him.

"Yeah, well better me than Meredith. She's been through enough."

"Why can't you act like this with everyone else around?"

"That's what I've been asking him since I was in here," Rebecca said, walking into the room.

"Ava?" Alex asked, still trying to clear the fog away.

"Yeah," Rebecca said, liking how he referred to her as her former name.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone. But Alex, just so you know, there will be cops outside your room at all times in case the psycho comes back," Izzie said, starting to walk out the room.

"Thanks, Iz."

As Izzie left the room, Rebecca walked over to Alex and kissed his cheek. "Everything's going to be okay now."

"I know. You're here with me."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Burke stood outside Cristina's room, contemplating whether or not he should go in.

"Sir, you'll have to go inside or you'll have to leave," a cop said to Burke.

Burke, nodding at the cop, walked into the room.

"I was wondering if you were going to come in or not," Cristina said.

"You almost died."

"Yeah, well, it happens," Cristina said.

"I wasn't sure you were going to fight," Burke said, avoiding eye contact.

"Obviously I did."

"Yeah," Burke said, making eye contact with her for the first time. "I was scared."

"Well you don't have to be anymore; I'm fine."

"You have cops standing outside your door; you were shot; you slept with Derek; you got left at the altar. I have a reason to worry."

"About Derek-"

"No, don't. You don't have to. I understand. You needed someone. I should have been that someone, but I made a mistake. Today really made me realize all of the aspects of my life, and it scares me," Burke said.

"Why? I don't understand," Cristina said.

"For the longest time, my job has been number one in my life; the love of my life if you will. But almost losing you today made my world stop. Just the thought of you not being around anymore drove me crazy. I had no idea what I was going to do if you left. It made me realize that I'm in love with you, Cristina. I should have never tried to make you into someone you weren't. I should have never done any of that. I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"Um," Cristina said…

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Derek was escorting Meredith out of the house, carrying her bags to the car. "We'll get you settled into this police secured hotel in no time, where you can rest."

"Derek?"

"Yeah, Mer?"

"Can I ask a huge favor?" Meredith asked, looking at the ground.

"Sure," Derek said, opening the car door open for her.

"Um," Meredith said after Derek got into the car. "Would you be willing to stay with me at the hotel? I mean, I know that the police will be there an all, but I would feel safer with you."

"Sure Mer, I will stay with you."

"I don't mean like that thought. I mean as in a strictly clothes-on-snoring-not-cuddling-unaware-of-each-other-till-morning type of thing."

"I know," Derek said, laughing.

Derek started to pull out of the driveway and take off, when suddenly he saw a bright reflection from the sun in his eyes. He looks and sees Thatcher holding the gun. "Mer, get down!" Derek said, pushing her towards the dashboard.

Derek hit the gas and took off as the gun shots rang. One gun shot hit the back passenger side window and the bumper. Derek, pissed off, turns around and guns it towards him, telling Meredith to stay down. Thatcher holds the gun pointed right at Derek as the car jumps the curb onto Meredith's lawn. Scared, Thatcher turns around to run as the car hits him and traps him under the car.

"Oh my God!" Meredith screamed. "What happened?"

"I ran over your dad."

NOTE: sorry for all of the jumping around in the previous chapters...i originally had breaks in the story, but they didn't stay once i uploaded them nor when i saved them, so i had to change the breaks. so sorry about the last 14 chapters / i hope you like it. Reviews are greatly appreciated and make me want to update more!!!! hint hint :)


	17. goodbye is always hard to say

Izzie and George drove to the house, only to find an ambulance and multiple cop cars outside of it. They looked and saw Derek's car.

"Oh my God! George! What if it's Meredith? What if she's the one who needs the ambulance?" Izzie cried.

"That's impossible," George replied.

"Why?"

"Because she's standing there with Shepherd and a policeman," George said, pointing.

"What is going on then?"

"I don't know," George said, getting out of the car to go and check it out.

Izzie followed behind him as they weaved in and out of the police in order to reach Meredith. The cop who was taking statements from Derek and Meredith walked away as they approached them.

"What is going on?" Izzie asked.

"Derek ran over my dad," Meredith said matter-of-factly.

"What?" George said, amazed.

"Yeah, he just jumped the curb and ran over him," a monotone Meredith said.

"Mer, are you okay?" Izzie asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, Mer. It was either him or you. If I had to choose between anyone and you, I would always choose you," Derek said.

"I get it. I'm fine. He wanted to kill me. He shot your window and bumper. You did what you had to do," Meredith said, walking back towards the car and grabbing her bags. "I guess I don't have to stay in a hotel now."

"Yeah, we can stay here," George said.

"Well, Dr. Grey and Dr. Shepherd, we're taking Mr. Grey to the hospital to be treated, but it looks as though he should be fine; nothing is broken. After that we will take him to be booked," on of the cops came and informed the group.

"Thank you, officer," Derek said.

"Well, looks like we can stay home now," Izzie said, looking at George. "Wait, you don't live here anymore. Go home."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. We're all safe now. Go home. Go home to your not-yet-but-soon-to-be-pregnant wife."

"Iz-"

"No, just go," Izzie said, realizing just how upset she was.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Chief! Did you hear?" Bailey asked, running up to him.

"No, what?"

"Thatcher Grey was run over by our head of neurosurgery and he's being brought here."

"Derek ran over Thatcher and now we have to save him? Great."

"Well, we all have to do things we don't want to," Bailey said, laughing a little bit.

"I think the chief resident should be in on this case," the Chief said, retaliating.

"I would, but I already have three surgeries in the next 7 hours. Sorry."

"But Bailey-"

"Sorry Chief. Gotta go," Bailey said, walking away.

--------------------------------------------------------

"He only has a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing appears to be broken and there doesn't appear to be any internal bleeding. Just a nice bump on the head," the emergency room intern said.

"So he's okay to take?" the police officer said.

"Yes, we just need you to sign a release form."

"Ok," the police officer said, cuffing Thatcher to the bedrail. "Don't go anywhere, okay?" he chuckled.

As the cop walked away, Thatcher unhooked the rail bar from the bed and walked away.

"Okay, he's all yours," the intern said. "Wait, where'd he go?"

"What? I cuffed him to the railing!" the cop said, starting to panic.

"What's going on?" the Chief asked.

"I cuffed Thatcher Grey to the railing so I could sign the release forms and now he's gone," the cop said.

"What? You cuffed him to the railing? He was he husband of a world renowned surgeon-he knows that the railings come off the beds!" the chief said, as he and the other two took off running in search of Thatcher, but he was already gone.

---------------------------------------------------------------

TWO WEEKS LATER

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Chief?" Meredith asked.

"Yes, Meredith?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, come on in and shut the door."

OUTSIDE THE OFFICE

"No, she can't do this," Cristina said.

"Can't do what?" Izzie asked.

"She's leaving."

"Where?"

"To New York," Cristina said.

"Why?" Alex said, walking up to them.

"Because of everything that's happened this past month. She blames herself for everything her father did and figures if she leaves, he'll leave us alone," Cristina said. "She's been talking about this for the last week and a half."

"She can't leave," Alex said.

"It wasn't her fault," Izzie said.

"It's her dad, we got hurt, therefore she believes it's her fault. She won't listen to reason; trust me, I've tried," Cristina responded.

Meredith walked out of the office.

"Mer, all this wasn't your fault," Alex said.

"Way to let her know we weren't talking about her," Izzie said, elbowing him.

"Ow!" Alex gasped.

"Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot you got shot," Izzie said, mentally kicking herself for that comment.

"I'm really sorry about that Alex. If I hadn't been here, if I hadn't treated Susan, if I hadn't been born, you and Cristina wouldn't have gotten shot," Meredith said.

"Mer, it's not your fault!" Cristina said.

"Yeah, Mer. I knew what was going to happen if I rounded that corner. He yelled it. I was running after to save you," Alex said.

"But you shouldn't have had to. If I wasn't here, you wouldn't have felt the need to save anyone. It's just better if I leave. My dad escaped and everyone is in danger. If I'm gone, he won't hurt you because I'm not here. If he comes looking for me, he won't miss and hit you on accident. It's just better for everyone."

"What's better for everyone?" Derek asked, walking up with Burke, Addison, Sloane, and Bailey.

"I'm leaving."

"What?" Addison said.

"You can't leave!" Mark said.

"Why?" Derek asked.

"Where would you possibly go?" Burke asked.

"Have you lost your freaking mind?!" Bailey yelled.

"I'm leave," Meredith said, facing Addison. "I am," she said turning to Mark. "Because I'm causing pain and suffering for everyone, especially Mark, Cristina, and Alex-next could be any one of you," she said to Derek. "I'm going to New York City," she said to Burke. "And quite possibly yes," she said to Bailey.

"But you've helped me," Mark said. "You've helped bring Addison and me together!"

"You've allowed me to see the good side of Mark and the friend side of Derek," Addison said.

"You've been a good friend all of us," Burke said.

"You won't get the same experience as you would here," Bailey said, quieter and sounding defeated.

"You're leaving!" George said to Bailey, causing her to step back.

"You're right, O'Malley. I just can't work somewhere I'm not appreciated."

"And I can't work somewhere I'm putting people in danger," Meredith said.

"Derek, don't you have anything to say to her to convince her to stay?" Burke asked.

"I love you. You obviously need more than that, but that's all I can give you at this time. I want to marry you. I want to have babies with you. I want to grow old on the porch of my trailer with you. But that's not what you want. Not right now anyway. You need space, and I don't think I can wait anymore."

"That's your convincing speech?" Alex asked.

"No, that's my good-bye speech. Have a safe trip Meredith."

NOTE: Don't worry...I have a plan. Thing will work out-it just takes a tragic sort of path to get there. but don't worry. read and REVIEW!!!!!


	18. lock the oncall room door: always

TWO YEARS LATER:

"Hello?" Cristina answered the phone.

"You're getting married and you didn't tell me?"

"Meredith?! Oh my GOD!!"

"I had to hear about it from my e-mail inbox. Thanks. Thanks a lot. Here I was thinking I was your best friend, one who would be asked to be a maid of honor or even just a witness, but I guess I'm not good enough to even be told by you; I had to get an e-mail," Meredith said, faking hurt.

"Mer, oh my God. I didn't know how to get a hold of you. And yes, we are getting married. It took me a year to agree to be his girlfriend after being left the first time. Mer, I, well, I can't, um, how do I say this?" Cristina said.

"You're scared that you'll be left again at the altar?"

"Yeah. I can't even admit that to Burke right now. I don't know if I ever will be able to. I need a favor."

"You want me to come back for the wedding."

"Yes. Please? I know you don't want to, but I really need you to. I need you here for me. I need my person-the person I haven't had for the past two years," Cristina said, holding back tears.

Meredith knew it took a lot for Cristina to admit to being scared. "Sure."

"Okay, well there's a few things you'll need to know before you come back. First of all: Derek."

"What about him?"

"He's engaged."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Hello nurse Sally," Derek said seductively into the nurse's ear.

"Well hello Dr. Shepherd. Is there something I can do for you?" Sally asked, turning to face him.

"Meet me in the on-call room later?"

"Absolutely."

Sally Malone was a nurse who started two weeks after Meredith had left. The first day she started work she literally bumped into him and continued to bump into him until Derek believed it to be fate and asked her on a date.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Dr. Yang," Burke said walking up to her, "what are you doing later tonight?"

"Oh, I have plans."

"You have plans? Our wedding is in less than two weeks. What could be more important than planning our wedding?"

"Me," Meredith said, causing both doctors to turn around.

"MEREDITH!" Cristina said, running up to her and hugging her.

"Are you aware you're hugging me?" Meredith teased.

"Yeah, well don't tell anyone."

"Hey Burke," Meredith said.

"How's New York going for you?" Burke said, hugging her.

"Pretty good, but I miss you all here."

"Dr. Yang," a squirrely looking woman said, walking up to her, "the patient in room 335 refuses to let us prep him for the OR. What should we do?"

"Oh give me a break!" Cristina said. "I've been having problems with this patient since the day they told him he needed surgery to remove a small portion of his colon because of cancer. His colon! It's not even a big surgery! Well I have to go and deal with him, so you two have fun."

Cristina walked away and Meredith punched Burke in the shoulder.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Just be thankful I didn't cut off your hands. She's my best friend. If you hurt her again, I'll break every finger you have. You leave her at the altar, you better watch your back. You cheat on her, you better watch your back. You do anything to mess up her chances at being the surgeon she wants to be, you better watch your back. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now I want to know all the details of the wedding!" Meredith said, laughing. "But seriously. Yeah, I'm serious about that other stuff still."

"I know," Burke said, putting his arm around Meredith. "Hey, Mer? Are you aware that Derek is engaged?"

"Yeah, to a nurse."

"Yeah. Cristina refuses to work with her."

"Well, she is my person."

"Oh my God!" Izzie said.

"No way," George said.

"When?" Alex asked.

"Today," Cristina said.

"Hey guys," Meredith said, walking up to them.

"Mer!" Izzie said as she and George and Alex got up to hug her.

"What are you doing here?" George asked.

"Obviously she's here to make sure Cristina makes it down the aisle. And to be here in case she gets left again," Alex said.

"Alex!" George said.

"Hey, you know I don't sugar coat things."

"Me neither," Cristina said. "So how's Rebecca? Or is it Ava?"

"On that note, I have a patient to check on. Good to see you Meredith," Alex said, walking away.

"What's going on with him and Jane Doe?" Meredith asked.

"She left him for her husband, again. It's only the, what? Fifth, no sixth time this year. Last year, man, you should have seen them. They would go at it like rabbits, really feed the beast, you know? But then, bam! They would be fighting and yelling and screaming like fifteen year olds," Izzie said.

"Damn," Meredith responded.

"So how is Callie?"

"She, well, she's good. I think. She and I are divorced."

"What? Why George? Are you okay?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We broke up, well, because," George fumbled.

"Because he screwed Izzie," Cristina said.

"What?" Meredith asked, shocked.

"Yeah, we're kinda together now," izzie said.

"Well, I'm happy for you two."

"Meredith? Meredith Grey?"

Meredith turned around. "Hey Mark. Addison."

"How are you doing?" Addison asked.

"I'm doing pretty good. Obviously not as good as the two of you," Meredith said, seeing the size of Addison's very pregnant belly.

"Yeah, they're due three months," Addison said.

"They?"

"Yeah, we're having triplets," Mark said. "Can my boys really swim or what?"

"Haha. Yeah, I guess so," Meredith said.

"So what brings you back to this side of the country?" Addison asked. "Not that we're not glad to see you. It's just that, well, I don't know if you know this or not, but-"

"Derek's engaged. I know. And I'm actually here or Cristina. She has a wedding coming up that I'm going to help her get through. And it looks as though I must have had my invitation to your wedding lost in the mail?"

"Oh, yeah," Mark said. "Well we got married in a court house. We're not going to have a ceremony until after the triplets are born because she was pregnant when we got married. We want to have a real celebration, you know? Get drunk and impregnate her again!"

"I don't think so bud! Have you seen me lately? I'm as big around as I am tall. You are never touching me again."

"You're beautiful."

"Okay, you can touch me again, but only once."

"You are radiant."

"I might as well give up. I'm getting impregnated again with another set of something," Addison said, laughing.

"You two are too cute. Well I'm kind jet lagged, so I'm going to go and find some place to lie down. I'll see you all later," Meredith said to everyone.

Meredith walked into the building and found the Chief. "Hey Chief."

"Meredith! What are you doing here? Ready to come back yet?"

"I don't know, sir. I'm just here for Cristina right now. Do you mind if I take a nap in the on-call room?"

"Of course not! This is still your hospital," the Chief said, giving the small girl a hug.

"Thanks."

Meredith walked to the on-call room about a hundred feet away and opened the door. Inside she found Derek naked with another woman. They both looked at her as the woman attempted to cover her very much exposed breasts.

"Meredith?" Derek said, trying to adjust himself the best he could.

"Derek was never good at locking the door," Meredith said before turning to leave.


	19. All for one and one for all

"Meredith is here?" Derek said, walking up to the Chief.

"Yeah, why?"

"She's here? She's here!" Derek said.

"What's the problem?" the Chief said.

"She met Sandy."

"She met your fiancé? When?"

"When we were having sex in the on-call room," Derek said, frustrated.

"She walked in on you having sex?!"

"Yes, Richard! She walked in on me having sex with my fiancé. The woman who agreed to everything I wanted from Meredith."

"Uh, well, that sucks," the Chief said before walking away.

------------------------------------------------------

"OH! MY! GOD!" Sandy said, pacing in the locker room.

"What?" Izzie asked, walking up with George.

"I was having sex with Derek in the on-call room."

"Oh, don't need details," Izzie said as George and her started to walk away.

"No! Please don't walk away. We got walked in on."

"Oh, in that case, ok," George said, turning around and walking towards her.

"Who was it?" Izzie asked, sounding too eager.

"Someone Derek had already been with."

"Who would that be?" George asked racking his brain for his other known sex partners, narrowing it down to Addison.

"How do you know they'd been together?" Izzie questioned.

"Because she said 'Derek was never good at locking the door' and walked out. I think Derek called her 'Meredith,'" Sandy said.

"Oh." Izzie and George looked at each other, suddenly feeling very awkward.

"You know her?" Sandy asked, eagerly. "Who is she? What were they? What is she like?"

"Um," George said, looking at Izzie.

"Um, okay, well, Sandy, you know how, uh, Cristina won't work with you?" Izzie said.

"Yeah?"

"Well that's because Meredith is her best friend. Meredith and Derek used to be a couple. They dated a long time ago, but then he ended up being married to Addison so he hurt her when he chose Addison. But he couldn't hide his feelings and they got divorced. Derek and Meredith were a couple for awhile, and he wanted to marry her but she wasn't ready because of the pain she'd already been through with him and after Cristina's first wedding failed to actually happen and her family, well that's another story. But then Meredith got shot, was in surgery, and Derek slept with Cristina. Meredith broke up with Derek, and then found out they slept together right after she found out she was pregnant with his baby. She lost the baby, and her dad was on a murderous rampage so she left to New York. Basically, Meredith Grey was the love of Derek Shepherd's life."

-----------------------------------------------------

"That woman who walked in on us was the woman you couldn't get over?" Sandy all but yelled at Derek.

"Sandy-"

"No, don't Sandy me! Meredith Grey was the love of your life! She was the woman you could not get over for the longest time. She's back! Derek she's back! And we're engaged! We're supposed to get married! What is this going to do to us, Derek? Are you going to leave me for her?" she asked, starting to cry.

"I left. I couldn't commit. You can. I'm only here for a few weeks," Meredith said, causing Sandy to turn around. "Hi. I'm Meredith Grey. And you must be Sandy, Derek's fiancé. You look a little different with clothes on." Meredith laughed.

"Hi." Sandy turned to Derek, shook her head, and walked away.

"Sorry. I was only looking for a place to rest. I figured people would have learned that locking the door is essential," Meredith said.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked crossly.

"She's here for me. Got a problem with that?" Cristina said, walking up to him.

"Just, stay away from me, okay?" Derek said. "I've got enough damage to fix."

"Ok."

"ASS!" Cristina, George, and Izzie yelled down the hall after him.

---------------------------------------------------

"Chief? I need a resident to check in on my patient in room 576," Derek said.

"Why can't you do it?"

"I need to go and fix the problems created when Meredith walked in on us."

"Um, okay, which resident?" the Chief asked.

"Doesn't matter," Derek said, walking away.

"Stevens? Can you check on Shepherd's patient in room 576?"

"Nope."

Derek stops and turns around.

"Yang can you check on Shepherd's patient-"

"Nope."

"O'Malley can you-"

"Nope."

"Karev can you check on Shepherd's patient?"

"Nope."

"And why can none of you check on Shepherd's patient?" the Chief asked, having an idea already in his head.

"Busy with charts," Izzie said.

"Patients that need checking on," Cristina said.

"Helping Bailey in the clinic," George said.

"I just don't want to," Alex said.

"And why not?" Derek asked.

"Because if it comes to choosing between you and Meredith, you lose. You can not talk to her like you did. She left you. Big freaking deal. You left her for your wife. When she got rid of McVet for you, you needed time. She's almost died multiple times. Her parents screwed her up. Her mom died. She accidentally killed her step mom. Her dad decided to try and kill her. You cheated on her with her best friend. Wow, she left you. Yeah, you've got the rough life," Alex said.

"You're fiancé is upset with you because your ex showed up. Oh cry me a river," Cristina said. "Get over it. Don't be a dick to Meredith."

"You should have learned by now, if you mess with Meredith, you mess with us all," Izzie said.

"She's our family. She's our friend. She doesn't deserve half the stuff that happens to her, but she takes it and keeps going. So you want to be an ass to her, well then we're all going to be asses to you," George said.

"So deal with your own freaking patient!" Cristina said, turning and leaving with everyone else close behind.

"Yeah, you're in a lot of trouble," the Chief said.

"Why?"

"Because pissing off the residents is worse than pissing off the nurses."

------------------------------------------

"Hey Meredith," Mark said, walking up to her sitting on the gurney in the back hall.

"Hey."

"Did you hear about what happened?"

"No. What happened?"

"Derek pissed off all of the residents by the way he talked to you," Mark said.

"What?" Meredith asked, laughing.

"Yeah. He hasn't had a chance to talk to Sandy yet because he has to check on all of his own patients."

"Why can't the interns do that?"

"They've all had rare surgeries. I feel bad for him."

"So why don't you check on his patients for him then?" Meredith asked.

"I don't feel that bad for him," Mark said laughing. "Between you and me, I don't like her. There's something about her that comes off very fake; like she's hiding something."

--------------------------------------

"Chief?" Meredith asked, walking into his office.

"Meredith! What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you would mind if I checked on Derek's patients for him. His fiancé is upset because of me, and my friends are avoiding him because of me. So I feel as though I'm somewhat responsible."

"Do you have scrubs?"

"No," Meredith said.

"Well it's a good thing I have extras then, huh?" the chief said, reaching into one of the closets in his office and pulled out a pair of light blue scrubs. "Here's a coat for you too."

"Thanks. Where do I start?"

------------------------------------

"Okay, Mr. Higgins, I'm Dr. Grey and I'm here to check up on you. How are you feeling?" Meredith asked, flashing the light into his eyes and checking his vitals.

"I would feel better if I didn't have to have brain surgery tomorrow."

"Well, it looks as though you should be fine. There are always risks with brain surgery, but Dr. Shepherd is the best neurosurgeon you could have operating on your head," Meredith said. "Your stats look good. Just calm down, breathe, and think of what you're going to do when you get out of this place."

"I'm going to get my girlfriend back," Mr. Higgins said.

"Good for you," Meredith said smiling and walked out of the room.

-------------------------------------

"Okay, I have to check on Mr. Samson, Mrs. Pennington, Miss Jenson, and Mr. Higgins," Derek said to Mark as he walked up. "And then I have to find Sandy and explain a little better."

"Why don't you just let her be mad and leave you?" Mark asked, mimicking support.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," Derek said, sarcastically. "Thanks a lot. You just can't be a friend, can you?"

"Hey! I was kidding. What's happened to you, Derek? You used to be able to take a joke. You used to be fun. You used to be the only guy I ever envied. Now I just feel sorry for you. What has this woman done to you?"

"She's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"What about Meredith? I thought she was your soul mate."

"I thought so too, but she left. She broke me, and Sally helped fix me," Derek said. "She's changed me."

"She's changed you alright, but not for the better."

"At least she cares. Meredith left me, broke my heart, and didn't even care. Why am I even talking about this? I have four patients left to see," Derek said as he turned around to find Meredith.

"I felt bad that my friends wouldn't see your patients, so the Chief gave me permission to check on them. I hope that's alright with you. I just got done checking Mr. Higgins' stats. Everyone looks good and ready for surgery," Meredith said, handing him the four patients' charts. She turned to walk away as Derek stood there stunned. After a step she turned around. "Living without is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I did care when I left. I still do care." She turned and walked away quickly before he could see the tears running down her face.


	20. ppl aren't always who they say they are

NOTE: I'm sorry for anyone who is starting to lose the love for McDreamy, but I promise, I am going somewhere with this…don't lose the love or the faith in me!

--------------------------------------------

"Did she just say…? No. No, I don't care. I'm engaged. I'm in love with Sandy. But did she…? No," Derek said, flabbergasted.

"Dude, she's back. She's only here for a short time unless you move!" Mark said.

"But I'm engaged. I'm happy."

"No, you're not. You're a different Derek," Mark said.

"No, I'm happy. I'm engaged. I'm in love with Sandy."

"Dude! She took care of your remaining patients for you! She feels bad that you pissed off all of the other residents even though you pissed them off because you were a dick to her. Seriously?"

"Did you just say 'seriously'?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, I kind of miss her," Mark said, running his hand through his hair. "Yeah, I gotta go check on a patient or something."

"Derek, we need to talk," Sandy said, walking up to Derek as Mark walked away.

------------------------------------------

"Meredith helped Derek out," Izzie said.

"What?" George asked.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"Because he's her McDreamy," Cristina said.

"I don't get it," George said.

"Yeah. I'm not sure any of us ever will," Cristina said, looking at Meredith as she walked over to them.

"They gave me free food," Meredith said as she sat down.

"What?" Izzie asked. "Why?"

"I have no idea. I went to pay for it, and they told me it was on the house. No joke-that's exactly what she said."

"What's the deal with you and Shepherd?" Alex asked.

"Alex, I've missed your extremely blunt comments that make everyone around us feel very uncomfortable. But for your information, nothing," Meredith said.

"They why did you help him out?" Izzie asked.

"Because I felt bad. It was my fault that all of you decided to ignore him. It was also my fault that he and sally are fighting."

"No, it's his fault," George said. "He can't say stuff like that to you. He can't treat you horribly after everything that has happened to you."

"Yeah," Izzie said.

"Well I thank all of you, but it's not necessary. I'm okay."

"If you say so," Cristina said.

-----------------------

Meredith was walking towards the exit when she saw Sandy talking on her cell phone. She wanted to clear things up with Derek's fiancé, and let her know that there was nothing that was going to come between Sandy and Derek. She walked up to her from behind and got a vibe that she shouldn't make her presence known. Meredith stepped into shadow and listened to Sandy talking on the phone.

"Honey, I told you. I won't be able to come back until after the wedding. I know, I love you too. No, I don't really love Derek. He's the top neurosurgeon in the country. He's worth two million dollars a year, baby. All I need to do is get his trust, a marriage license, and a credit card. Then we'll spend all his money, I'll divorce him, and leave him broke. Honey, I have to go. I'll call you later," Sandy said before hanging up and walking towards the elevator.

---------------------

"Chief!" Meredith said, running up to him. "I need a favor."

"Yeah?" the Chief asked turning around.

"Where is Sandy Malone's locker?"

"In the locker room?"

"Which one?" Meredith asked.

"Why?" the Chief asked.

"Can we talk in private?" Meredith asked as she pulled him into his office.

"What is going on Meredith?"

"I was going to walk up to her and explain that I was only here to see that Cristina got married and nothing to do with Derek and my past. She was talking on her phone and I got a weird vibe from her. I know I shouldn't have been eavesdropping, but I couldn't help it. I over heard her, Chief. She was calling this other person 'honey' and 'baby.' She said she was going to gain Derek's trust, a marriage license, and then a credit card. She told this person she was going to spend all of Derek's money since he was worth two million dollars a year, and then she was going to divorce him. She's only using him, Chief! I need to get her phone!" Meredith almost yelled.

"Well, let's go. No one uses my neurosurgeon."

---------------------------------

"Here's her locker."

Meredith unlocked the lock and searched the locker. "Her phone isn't here."

"We better get out of here," the Chief said, as Meredith closed the locker and Sandy walked in.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I was just coming to see if my old locker was taken. The chief came to stop me from unlocking it. I guess whoever uses it now is rather possessive about his or her stuff," Meredith said.

"Oh, okay. Well I have to get to my locker, if you don't mind. I have to go and meet Derek."

"Okay, well don't let me stop you," Meredith said as she and the Chief walked out of the locker room.

Once outside and out of hearing range of Sandy, Meredith looked at the Chief. "Can you get it so that all of the on-call rooms are full except for one?"

"Yeah, I'll put closed for maintenance on the doors. Which one do you want without the sign? And why?"

"Well, we'll make I the one furthest from the locker room and I'm going to be hiding in there."

"You're what?"

"Well, if you think about it, if they are going to be using the on-call room, the pants need to come off. If the pants come off, they're on the floor. If I'm under the bed, on the floor, I can grab the phone. She leaves, thinking the phone is still in her pocket, and she's none the wiser."

"You're going to sit under the bed while this woman and your ex are having sex? Are you sure?"

"It's the only way, chief. I just hope this works."

-----------------------------

"Derek," Sandy said, walking up to him. "We need to talk."

"Yeah we do," Derek said.

"Let's go somewhere private," she said, pulling him away.

They walked towards the first on-call room, then the second, and then the third, until they finally found the fourth one; the only one without a sign on it.

"I wonder what's wrong with all of the other rooms," Derek said.

"Yeah, no kidding."

"Sandy, I just want to tell you that I am over Meredith. I loved her, yes, and she will always have a special place in my heart, but that's only because of the love I had for her. Just like Addison will always have a special place, but that doesn't mean anything will come out of it," Derek said.

"Yeah, well there's a difference between Meredith and Addison. Besides the fact that Addison is married, you chose Meredith over Addison. How do I know that you won't choose her over me?"

"How do you know that I would even have to? She left me. She broke me. With Addison, she broke my heart into a million pieces. I walked in on her and my best friend in bed together. Meredith put me back together. That's part of the reason I chose Meredith over Addison. But Meredith broke me too. And you fixed me."

"You promise you won't choose Meredith over me?" Sandy asked, getting closer to him, pressing her body up against him.

"Promise," Derek said, closing what little gap was between them. Soon, all of their clothes were off and on the floor. Meredith quickly located Sandy's phone and started regretting the decision to sit in there and wait for them to finish up. She didn't realize how much it would hurt to listen to Derek profess his love to Sandy. But she got the phone. It was all worth it, wasn't it?

------------------------

"Chief, we have a problem," Meredith said, walking into his office with a folder in her hand.

"What is it?"

"I looked at her call from the time I overheard her, and the guy she was talking to is named Philip Livingstone. I looked him up, and he was convicted of attempted murder. His accomplice, who drove the car is also wanted for grand larceny. They were booked, but upon being let out on bail, and are now on the run. The funny thing is though, the accomplice is named Sandra Maloony, but she looks a hell of a lot like Sandy Malone," Meredith said, setting the picture she printed off the internet on the desk in front of the chief.

"But we run extensive background checks on all of our employees-"

"Yeah, well Sandy Malone is a graduate from Dartmouth. She also happens to also be employed at Chicago Hope Hospital," Meredith said.


	21. Trust is a precious thing

"What are we going to do, Meredith?" the Chief asked.

"We can't just come right out and tell Derek. Besides, if she catches on, then she will run. So what we're going to do is kind of up on the air right now," Meredith said.

"What if we just call the cops and let them take care of it?"

"That would just piss off Derek because he would have wanted us to tell him ahead of time; kind of warn him," Meredith replied. "What if we could somehow get her to confess it to Derek?"

"And how do you plan on doing that?" the Chief asked.

"Well, do you have a tape recorder?"

----------------------------

"What is Meredith doing in there?" Cristina asked.

"I don't know, but she walked in with a folder, and she looks as though she's yelling at the chief," George said.

"What are you guys doing?" Izzie asked, walking up to them with Alex.

"Meredith is freaking out," George said.

"No, I don't think she is. If she was, she would have walked out sooner. Maybe she's giving him her folder to show him that he should hire her back," Cristina said.

"Now why are you all standing outside of the Chief's office?" Burke walked up and asked.

"Because Grey is having an apparent freak out," Alex said.

"Meredith's freaking out?" Addison asked, waddling up to the group.

"Geez, do we have a magnetic force field that attracts every other employee of this hospital to us? It seems as though any of us are talking to each other, the group keeps getting bigger and bigger. Which isn't exactly subtle," Cristina said, as Meredith and the Chief looked up to see them.

"We should probably go," Izzie said.

"Yeah," they said as they dispersed.

-----------------------------------

"Meredith!" Cristina said, running up to her friend.

"Yeah?" Meredith turned around. She was on a mission to get seek out Sandy, and she really didn't have time for this.

"What were you doing in the Chief's office today?"

"You mean when you all were spying on me?"

"Well, yeah," Cristina said.

"I can't really tell you right now, but I'll tell you later," Meredith said as she took off after spotting Sandy.

After a few minutes, she finally located Sandy as she was walking into the elevator. Meredith ran to catch up to her just as the doors were about to shut. Meredith was luckily small enough to be able to jump in there without a problem. She also managed to click the record button on the tape recorder in her lab coat pocket before entering the elevator.

"Hi," Meredith said.

"Oh, it's you," Sandy said to her.

"It's a nice day today, isn't it, Sandra?" Meredith said as Sandy reacted.

"Yes, it is. How did you know my real name? although there's not really a lot of other names that Sandy could be short for," she said as Meredith reached over and the emergency stop button. What did you do that for?"

"Because, I was just wondering: is Derek going to give you a credit card with all of his money before or after the wedding? Because if you were smart, you'd try and get it first so you wouldn't have to pay the attorneys for the divorce. I mean, that's what you're planning to do, right? Steal his money and then run back to your boyfriend, Philip? What's one more grand larceny charge against you, Sandra Maloony?"

"You little bitch! You were eavesdropping on me? It doesn't matter anyway, because Derek loves me. We're getting married. There's nothing you can do about it. Besides, once I have all of Derek's money, I can afford the best divorce attorney in the states. It's not like I'm losing my own money there."

Meredith reached over and pushed the emergency button again, causing the elevator to start moving again. The doors opened and they were on the surgical floor.

"You'll never get him to believe you!" Sandy yelled, as Meredith turned around.

Meredith reached into her pocket and waved the recorder in the air. Sandy and Meredith spotted Derek at the nurse's station at the same time, and Sandy ran up and tackled Meredith to the ground, causing the tape recorder to go flying.

Derek ran quickly over to the two women and pulled Sandy off of Meredith. Cristina saw the recorder that had slid to her feet. She picked it up and pressed play.

"…Besides, once I have all of Derek's money, I can afford the best divorce attorney in the states. It's not like I'm losing my own money there. You'll never get him to believe you!"

"What is that?" Derek asked, hearing what everyone else on the floor heard.

"Your fiancé. But she's not really Sandy Malone. Her real name is Sandra Maloony. Sandy Malone works at a hospital in Chicago. Your fiancé is actually wanted on an accessory to attempted murder and grand larceny. She is planning on taking all of your money and then divorcing you," Meredith said.

"She's lying to you," Sandy said.

"No, Derek, I'm not."

"I told you she was hiding something!" Mark said.

"Oh shut up," Sandy said. "Derek, you believe me, right? Your ex is just trying to get you to hate me. She wants you back."

"Derek," Meredith said. "I know we're not together, but you know I would never lie to you about something like this. I don't want you to get hurt. I've hurt you enough. There was a point, I think it was around the time you ran over my dad, that you said that if it ever came to choosing someone else or me, you would always choose me. Well choose me this time. I swear; I'm not lying."

"Derek! You can't possibly believe her! You told me that if it came to choosing between Meredith and me, you would choose me," Sandy said.

"I believe you, Sandy. Meredith, I can't believe you would do something like this to me," Derek said.

"Derek! I'm not lying. You heard the tape!"

"It was taken completely out of context," Sandy said.

"No, it wasn't," the chief said, walking up to her with two policemen.

"Sandra Maloony, we have two warrants out for your arrest. One for not appearing for court for the accomplice to an attempted murder count, and one for charges against you for grand larceny. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you in a court of law…" one of the policemen said as the other cuffed her.

"Wow. I didn't think you thought that little of me that you would think I would be capable of lying to you about something like this," Meredith said, turning away from him. "Chief, I don't think I'll be staying here after Cristina's wedding. Thank you for the offer though."

Meredith walked away, tears ready to fall from her eyes as she entered the elevator.

"Derek, what were you thinking?" the Chief asked.

"Way to go, man," Mark said. "Now she's not going to say. I told you there was something not right with your girlfriend, and then the love of your life proves it. But you can't believe her because she broke your heart. What is your deal?"

"How was I supposed to trust her, Mark? She left me, remember?"

"You left her once," Addison said. "Remember?"

"And you cheated on her," Cristina said. "Remember that?"

"And she's that one that can't be trusted?" Izzie said. "Right…"

"She went out of her way to try and protect you," Alex said. "And what did you do? You believed your whore of an ex. Yeah, your argument is well founded. Dumb ass."

------------------------------------------

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Meredith lifted her head from the arm of the couch. Her eyes were blood shot and puffy from crying. She walked over to the door and saw Derek standing there.

"What do you want?" she asked as soon as she opened the door.

He walked into the entry way. Seeing her standing there in her Dartmouth t-shirt with holes in it and sweat pants, her hair pulled back into a sloppy-yet sexy-pony tail, and her eyes puffy and red from crying. Her nose was red from where he could tell she'd been wiping her nose.

"I wanted to come over and apologize in person and explain," Derek said.

"I don't really want to hear it. Not yet. Do you have any idea what I went through to find out what was going on with her?" Meredith asked, tears falling from her eyes again, but she didn't care enough to hide them this time.

"I know you recorded the conversation with her," Derek said.

"That wasn't even the hardest part. I was going to apologize to her yesterday when I overheard her on her phone. As soon as she called the other person 'honey' and 'baby,' I knew something was up. I had the chief close all of the on-call rooms expect for the one you went into. I was in the room. I hid in there to steal her phone so I could figure out who she was talking to. That was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, Derek-you have no idea. To listen to you profess your love to her and then to listen to you make love to her," Meredith said, and stopped as a sob escaped from her throat. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I looked in her recent calls and found the name of who she was talking to around the time I over heard her. It read Philip Livingstone. I looked him up on the internet and found that he was wanted on an attempted murder charge. His accomplice, Sandra Maloony was wanted not only for the attempted murder charge, but also for grand larceny. They had a picture of both of them, and I showed it to the police. I didn't want you to get hurt, Derek. I had done enough of that. But the fact that you didn't believe me, well, that made everything I did seem not worth it."

"Meredith, I'm glad you did what you did. And if it means anything, I did believe you. I was going to tell you later that I believed you because I was starting to have suspicions about Sandy myself, but I had promised her that I would choose her over you. I didn't want her to know I believed you, because if I did, she would have run. I did believe you, and I was going to choose you; just not right then," Derek said.

Meredith stood there, looking at him intently. She did so in such a way that he knew she was searching his face for signs of whether or not he was telling the truth.

"I still love you Meredith. I never stopped."

Suddenly Meredith closed the gap between them, pushing her lips to his. He responded to her kiss by putting his hands in her hair. She reached up and pulled the pony tail out of her hair and put her hands on his stomach to feel his rock hard chest. He moved his hands to her stomach and reached his hands up to her breasts under her shirt and heard her moan. She maneuvered her body in such a way that there was no space between them. With this lack of space, it was impossible for her to not feel the bulge that was growing below his belt.

"Let's go upstairs," Meredith said, breaking away from his kiss.

"Are you sure?" Derek asked.

"Yes, Derek. I still love you, too."

Derek picked Meredith up and carried her up the stairs to the room they both knew so well. No sooner had they shut the door did their clothes hit the floor.


	22. He's baaaaaack!

"Meredith Grey!" Izzie squealed.

"What?" Meredith asked, walking into the kitchen the next morning.

"You had sex last night," George said.

"So?" Meredith asked.

"Who was it with?" Izzie asked.

"Hello everyone," Derek said, walking into the kitchen.

"NO!" Izzie exclaimed in clear shock.

"You slept with McDreamy?" George asked.

"He didn't believe you," Izzie said.

"Yes, I did. I knew Meredith wouldn't lie about something like that," Derek said.

"Then why didn't you say so?" George asked suspiciously.

"And risk her running? Get serious O'Malley," Derek said.

"So you two are back together?" Izzie asked.

"Well," Derek said.

"No," Meredith said.

-------------------------------------------------

A WEEK AND A HALF LATER

"You're getting married tomorrow," Meredith said.

"Yeah, I am," Cristina said, her breathing short.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't do this, Meredith. I can't do this again. I can not be left again," Cristina said, clearly hyperventilating at this point.

"Cristina, breathe," Meredith said. "You will not be left this time. This time, the wedding is on your terms. You ok'ed everything that is taking place. He compromised, you compromised. It's not all about him this time. It's about you. You won't be left again. You will walk down that aisle, bouquet in your hands, Izzie, Callie, and me walking in there right before you. Derek, George, and the Chief will be on the other side. You two will say your "I do's" in front of the approved and short list of friends and family. It will be okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Good. Now, I need to take my mind off of this thing. Tell me: are you still avoiding McDreamy?"

"Yes, I am," Meredith said.

"Why?"

"Because sleeping with him was a mistake," Meredith said. "I can't get involved with him again."

"And that is because…" Cristina asked.

"Because of a few different reasons," Meredith said.

"Like…? Meredith, I have no idea where you're going with this."

"Well, for one, I don't want to be the rebound girl. I've already been that once. Two: I'm scared."

"You're scared? Of what? Of him?"

"No, I'm not scared of him. I'm scared of me."

"Ok, I'm lost now," Cristina said, confused.

"I'm ready, Cristina," Meredith said. "But I'm scared he's not. Not anymore. I don't know if I'm still the one he wants. After his first marriage failed-twice-and then our relationship failed, and then, if that wasn't bad enough, is last fiancé was only using him. To top that off, I was the one who brought her down. I want to marry him. I really do. But I'm too scared to know if he wants to marry me or not."

---------------------------------------

"You're getting married tomorrow," Derek said, walking up to Burke.

"Oh my God, Derek."

"Oh my God, what?" Derek asked.

"I'm getting married tomorrow," Burke said.

"Good job. Now do you remember your name? How about you're birthday? What's the date today?" Derek joked.

"Not funny. I'm getting married. Tomorrow. This is bad. This is very bad."

"Why?"

"I don't think she's going to go through with it," Burke said.

"What? Why not?"

"Because I think she's going to get back at me for last time. She's going to leave me at the altar."

"No, she won't," Derek said.

"How do you know?" Burke said.

Derek just looked at him.

"Exactly," Burke said. "I have to find Meredith."

"Why?"

"Because she can talk her into this. She talked her into the last one," Burke said.

"Good luck finding her."

"Avoiding you?"

"Yeah."

"Well you did kind of not believe her."

"And then I kind of slept with her. And now she's avoiding me. Maybe I should talk to Cristina. Mer and Yang have similar affects over each other," Derek said.

--------------------------------------

"Dr. Yang," Derek said, jogging up to her.

"Yes, Dr. Shepherd?" Cristina said, careful to not welcome him to question her about Meredith.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second."

"Well, I am working," Cristina said as Derek pulled her into the on-call room. "I'm not really comfortable with you in an on-call room."

"What's going on with Meredith?" Derek asked, ignoring Cristina's remark.

"What do you mean?"

"Why is she avoiding me?"

"Do you want to marry her?" Cristina asked, bluntly.

"Marry her? Well, yeah. Not tomorrow or anything, but yes, I want to marry her."

"Are you sure? Are you sure that she's not just the rebound girl? She's not the girl you screw just to get over being screwed?"

"If anything, that's what Sandy was. If Meredith had come here to get me back, and had Sandy hadn't done what she had done, I would have gone back with Meredith. I love her, Cristina. I never stopped. I will never stop."

----------------------------

"Meredith-"

"She's going through with the wedding, Burke. She's not changing her mind," Meredith said, not even looking up from her lunch.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. She's scared you're going to chicken out. AGAIN."

"I won't. I swear I won't. I just need you to make sure she's going through with it. Can you do that for me, Meredith? Please? Can you make sure she doesn't change her mind?" Burke asked, pleading her.

"Yes, Burke. I will make sure she goes through with this," Meredith said, looking him in the eyes and then returning to her lunch.

"Do you love Derek?" Burke asked.

"What?"

"Do you love Derek?" he repeated.

"Why?"

"Because he loves you," Burke said. He looked up, looking confused.

"What's wrong?" Meredith asked.

"I swear I just saw…no…I must be mistaken," Burke said, walking towards the building.

Curiosity struck Meredith enough to cause her to abandon her lunch and follow him.

Suddenly, there were gun shots ringing throughout the building. Burke and Meredith ran to the building to find Derek lying on the floor, blood pooling around him, and Rebecca Hope applying pressure to her stomach wound.

Thatcher Grey was back, and this time, we was going to make sure that people die.

NOTE: I just realized that I changed the name of Derek's fiancé from Sally to Sandy at the end of the chapter "ppl aren't always who they say they are" so I apologize. I replaced the name of her to Sandy in all of the chapters that mention her. I think I caught all of them, but if not, I apologize again. Please R&R. Reviews motivate me to update more.


	23. past tense always sucks

Burke and Meredith ran towards Derek and Rebecca.

"Make sure Alex does not come anywhere near here!" Meredith yelled at the nurses.

"Derek," Burke said. "Derek, say something."

"Meredith?" Rebecca said.

"Rebecca," Meredith said. "Stay calm. Everything is going to be okay." Meredith applied pressure to the wound as the gurney was wheeled over to her.

"Derek is losing a lot of blood," Burke said to the Chief.

"Oh my God. Who did this?" he asked.

"Who do you think?" Meredith said, anger dripping from her voice.

"Thatcher?" the Chief asked.

"Yeah, he waited two years before striking again. I swear, if he comes back here, I'm going to kill him," Meredith said as Rebecca and Derek were wheeled away.

------------------------------

"Meredith?" Rebecca said in the OR.

"Yeah?" Meredith said, waiting for her to be put under.

"Will you tell Alex that I love him, and I'm sorry? I made a mistake. Please…" she said right before she passed out and flat lined.

--------------------------------

"Derek is losing too much blood," the chief said.

"I can not believe this has happened again, especially to my head of neurosurgery. Why does this keep happening? Oh shit!" The chief said as blood started squirting.

"He's going into cardiac arrest!" Burke said, reaching for the paddles. "Charge 300! Clear!"

------------------------

"Hey what's going on?" Alex asked Olivia as everyone was shuffling about.

"Oh, um, yeah. Thatcher Grey came in and started, um, shooting," Olivia said, trying to find a way to not tell Alex about Rebecca.

"Oh are you kidding me?" Alex asked.

"No, I'm not."

"Did he hit anyone this time?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. He hit two people," Olivia said.

"Really? Maybe I can get in on one of the surgeries."

"I don't think so. One of the two people hit was Dr. Shepherd."

"Oh my God! Are you serious? Man, I wonder who the other one is. I think I'll go look and see," Alex said as Olivia grabbed his arm.

"You can't."

"I can't?"

"No, Alex. We were told to keep you away," Olivia said.

"By who?"

"Meredith Grey, and it was approved by the Chief."

"What? Why?"

"Because the other person injured was, well she was, uh, she is, um," Olivia said.

"Who, Olivia?"

"Rebecca Hope. She was Rebecca Hope!"

"What? She came here? What's going on? Who's treating her?" Alex yelled.

"I did," Meredith said, walking up behind him.

"How is she?" Alex asked, panicking.

"She wanted me to tell you that she was sorry, and that she loved you," Meredith said.

"She WAS sorry? She LOVED me? Why is everything past tense, Meredith?" Alex yelled.

"The bullet perforated her stomach, small intestine, liver, and colon. There was nothing else we could do."

"She's dead?" Alex asked, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Yes, Alex. I'm so sorry. I did everything I could think of," Meredith said as Alex reached out and pulled her into a hug. His sobs started to escape as everyone gathered around him. This was a side of Alex that no one else had ever seen before. "I promise," Meredith said, "that my father will pay for this."

"I know, Mer, I know."

---------------------------------------

"How is he?" Meredith asked Burke and the chief.

"He's in a coma," Burke said.

"What? For how long?" Meredith asked, starting to panic.

"We're not sure," the Chief said. "Derek lost a lot of blood."

"Enough to put him in a coma. Chief, level with me," Meredith said. "How long do you think he'll be in the coma?"

"Best case scenario: he wakes up in a couple of weeks," the Chief said.

"And the worst case scenario…?" Meredith asked, fear plainly written across her face.

"Meredith," the Chief said, turning away from her.

"What he's trying to say, Meredith, is that Derek may never wake up," Burke said as Meredith crumbled to the floor.

NOTE: I know this was short, and I promise the next chapter will be longer. R & R


	24. Happy endings can be difficult

"I can do this. I can do this. I can do this," Cristina said, over and over.

"Cristina, calm down. This is nothing too big. You can do it. This is nothing. Just a simple ceremony," Meredith said, trying her best to settle Cristina down.

"You're right. I'm just getting married today. Holy shit!" Cristina said.

"What?"

"I'm getting married today. Meredith, I'm getting married today!"

"Yes, Cristina. You are. You're getting married. You're getting married, you're going to walk down that aisle, and you are going to get married. You're going to do this to prove that people like us really can have a happy ending," Meredith said.

"So, I'm not getting married for me, I'm getting married for you," Cristina said.

"In a sense, yes."

-------------------------------------------

Burke stood at the front of the aisle, facing the doorway, looking at the crowd. The Chief, Alex, and George were to his left. His mother wasn't there, but his father was. Only about half of his family was there. He had to compromise and cut the guest list in half; one of the many things he had to agree to in order to marry her.

**FLASHBACK**

_"I don't see why we can't have all of these people at our wedding," Burke said._

_"Why? So if I get left at the altar again everyone can witness it AGAIN? I don't want to go through that again, Preston."_

_"You never call me Preston," Burke said. "I just want everyone to see us start our life together. That's all. I don't understand why you won't allow me to invite people."_

_"If you love me, and really want to marry me, then how many people are there to see us get married shouldn't matter," Cristina said to him._

_That was the time that Burke realized that loving her would mean he would have to compromise. He had hurt her once before, and he didn't want to lose her again. He could shorten the guest list as long as she would agree to marry him. He could choose the wedding cake himself if it meant she would agree to marry him. He will do whatever he can to get her to trust him again so he could love her for the rest of their lives._

**END OF FLASHBACK**

The piano started playing the wedding march as Callie walked through the door. Next came Izzie. Following Izzie was Meredith. All three women were wearing navy blue halter dresses that hugged their curves just right. As soon as Meredith reached the altar, everyone turned to see Cristina come through the doors. She was wearing a white, strapless gown. The top was corset style, and as soon as it reached her hips, it flowed outwards all the way to the ground. Meredith gasped as she saw her. There were rhinestones on the chest, and the tiara that connected to her veil. This was so un-Cristina like. Burke looked at her in amazement. She looked absolutely stunning.

…..

"Do you, Cristina, take Preston Xavier Burke, as your lawfully wedded husband?" the Priest asked.

"I do," Cristina said, looking Burke in the eye.

"With the power invested in me, by the state of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Burke looked at Cristina and kissed her passionately as everyone stood up and clapped. Everyone was so engrossed by the scene that no one seemed to take notice of Thatcher lurking in the back. Burke and Cristina separated and turned to face the crowd. He saw Thatcher, and then he saw the gun. He grabbed Cristina and turned her so he was shielding her. Suddenly there was a BANG, blood splatter, and a thud on the ground.

------------------------------------------

"He's dead," the Chief said to the EMT's as he was standing over the body. The cops and ambulance were called upon the gun shot.

"Who shot him?" the policeman asked.

"I did," Alex said.

"You did?" Burke asked, turning to him.

"I figured Thatcher would show up here, and he killed Rebecca. I wasn't going to let him kill anyone else."

"Meredith, I'm so sorry about your dad," Burke said to her.

"Don't be," Meredith said. "Who's ready to party?"

-------------------------------------------

"Cristina, what's the deal with the dress?" Meredith asked her at the reception. It was surprising how everyone was able to forget about the shooting in the church.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not like you," Meredith said.

"Yeah, well I figured that it was a dress Burke would want me to wear."

"What?" Izzie asked, walking up to them. "You wore it because it's a dress Burke would like?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Yeah, so, what?" Burke said, walking up to Cristina and putting his arms around her waist.

"Do you like her dress?" Izzie asked, just as Meredith elbowed her.

"Yes, I do. It is absolutely gorgeous. Not what I was expecting but I like it," Burke said.

"Ask her why she wore it," Izzie said, walking away before Meredith could elbow her again.

"Bitch," Meredith muttered.

"Why did you choose this dress?"

"Because I figured it would be something you would want me to wear. Plus I can actually breathe in this one."

"Because it would be something that I would want?" Burke asked, confused.

"You gave up so much for me because you love me, and I thought I would do this one little thing to compromise on my part. I love you, Burke," Cristina said.

"TOAST TIME!" the Chief hollered, interrupting Burke and Cristina's moment.

"I'm going to show you just how much I love you tonight," Burke said.

"Standing right here," Meredith said.

"Sorry."

"Now I know that I wasn't the first pick to be the Best Man, but since the original pick is unable to be here, you all have to settle for me. I've known Preston for years now. He's my head of cardio. But to me, he's more than just a surgeon. He's a friend. His specialty is the heart, and he proved that fact today. I could go on for hours, but no one really wants to hear me. Congrats you two. I'll now pass the mic over to the Maid of Honor," the Chief said.

"Well," Meredith began. "How do I describe Cristina? Competitive. Ruthless. Stubborn. Crazy. All of those have been used to describe her, but the truth is, there is no one else I would rather have as a best friend. She is loyal. There was an incident between her and Burke, a secret if you will, and she kept that said secret until it had to be told. She has been there for me since day one. She's my person. She's just like me, and the fact that she got married today has given me hope. She proved that messed up people like us can have a happy ending. I love the two of you will all of my heart, and I hope you all the best," Meredith said, lifting her glass of water up and toasting.

--------------------------------------

TWO MONTHS LATER

"Derek," Meredith said one day after work. "You have to wake up, okay? I need you to wake up." Meredith started crying. "I avoided coming to see you because I was scared of what I was going to see. I was scared of what would happen, but now I can't avoid it any longer. Well, Cristina got married. Yeah, I wasn't sure it was going to happen either. But she's proven that people like her and I can have a happy ending. It almost didn't happen though. My dad showed up. But Alex came to the rescue and shot him. My dad's dead now. Oh well, I suppose. But, I'm finally ready, Derek. I'm finally ready to give us a chance; to make that leap. I just need you to wake up. I can't do this on my own," Meredith said, her sobs taking her over.

"Meredith?" Cristina asked, walking into the room. "It's going to be okay."

"No, it's not, Cristina," Meredith said as Cristina walked over to her.

"Why?" Cristina asked, pulling her into a hug, sensing it's what was needed.

"Because I'm pregnant," Meredith sobbed.


End file.
